#i woke up with a BAD case of anakin & rex feelings

[robotsandramblings]

ok so this topic haunts me 24/7 so i'd like to start a discussion about it: Rex finding out (or not) about Anakin becoming Vader.

i'm not asking what you think is happening in canon; i wanna know, if you were the star wars head writer, creator, overseer, whatever, and it was your choice,

if it was up to you, would Captain Rex ever find out that Anakin fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader?

that he marched the 501st into the Jedi Temple to kill the all the Jedi there? killed the younglings? became essentially the second-in-command of the entire Empire?

[saltyladynightmare]

Jiliu AU Part 7.3

Beginning, Previous, Next, Masterlist

A/N:

Warnings, for the entirety of part 7:

Creative liberties taken with the Force (we know why I am writing this), fake medicine, fake medical practices, fake science, wonky time keeping, enviable metabolisms, platonic cuddling between men, several somethings that are supposed to be panic attacks, bad grammar, spelling, and typos galore, hints of how the clones where raised (bad), bullying between children, child birth, abuse between partners, abuse of authority, Anakin Skywalker (excruciatingly low self esteem, unhealthy coping mechanisms, angst)(yes he has therapy, no it does not magically make him a functional human being. that is what a support network is for. also he is 19 and traumatized, give him a break because I won’t), horrible opinions about the use of beds

~~~~~~

Anakin woke up the way he always did—all at once, with very little warning.

What was not normal, was that he was wrapped around something hard, and very much alive. His nose and forehead were mashed to something hard. He could feel

the someone he was wrapped around breathing in his hair, slow and even.

The Force was calm and almost shimmering in good things. Something hummed soothingly. No hint of threat, no sign of imminent doom. So what had woken him up?

When Anakin moved, brow crinkling in confusion, feeling cautiously around in the Force, something heavy tugged at the hair on the back of his head and something even heavier weighed down his sore shoulders.

Ugh.

Culprit located.

He was comfortable—his shoulders could keep their protests to themselves until he wasn't getting the closest thing he'd gotten to a hug in weeks. He could stretch out the aches later.

He stabbed at the guilty tissues with the Force, stitching white-hot healing through each muscle fiber and ligament, until everything went loose and warm and not liable to snap like twigs if he so much as twitched. Just to be thorough, he continued the treatment throughout his body, limb by limb going lax.

Once he was finished, he sighed, letting what remained of his tension leak out of his body. Mmm. Yes. He set about melting into the hard safe-echoing radiating warmth into the Force.

Something stirred. The weight in Anakin's hair twitched, and it slowly dawned on him that the two were connected.

He pulled his head back to get a look, just as the...person he was wrapped around snapped awake.

His eyes met a very surprised Rex's.

Anakin suddenly became very aware of what his limbs were doing.

Rex's hand was in Anakin's hair, which had only just gotten long enough to truly grab, and his other arm was wrapped tightly under and around Anakin's shoulders. Anakin himself had his flesh fingers half stuffed down Rex's cuirass from under his right arm. His mech hand was pinned under Rex's waist and locked around his utility belt in the small of his back. Rex's leg was thrown across Anakin's hip, pinning his legs, effectively immobilizing him if not for the Force.

Anakin forehead, he realized with a burning sense of horror, had been smashed into the upper edge of Rex's chest plate, dangerously close to his backs clad neck. Rex's nose had also, apparently, been buried in his hair.

Why? Why was it always him?

Aayla never woke up wrapped around her commander, and not because Commander Bly would be opposed to it, either!

Thankfully, Anakin had long since developed the habit of maintaining his equilibrium. It was critical to his success as a pilot, or, well, it certainly helped that it was very hard to make him dizzy. Another benefit was that Anakin, generally, did not blush unless he forgot himself. He had not forgotten himself in years, and right then didn't break his streak.

Rex was not so lucky.

There was only so much his dark skin could do to hide his rising blush. Even if that wasn't case, his embarrassment shrilled through the Force, clear as a whistle, fingernails clawing gorges into Anakin's shields.

Anakin's mech hand spasmed around Rex's belt, and he hastily jerked it off. He yanked his flesh fingers free for good measure.

Rex rolled away to bounce to his booted feet, and Anakin hastily followed his lead, jerking up off the floor with only slightly more creaks and pops than he got from sleeping six hours on his current assigned bed.

A quick check of his IV lines shows nothing had been dislodged, if one could call an inch and a half of needle sunk in one of his larger veins 'lodged', and a quick swipe of his flesh hand reordered his awkwardly grown out hair as well as any comb could manage at this stage. His sleep clothes were a lost cause and he didn't bother with them.

That settled, Anakin quickly felt around for the bond.

His fingers froze mid motion of smoothing out a twist in his IV lines, and he blinked sightlessly at what he found.

Sometime during their involuntary nap, it had quieted to a constant thrum, deep in Anakin's mind. It shone, bright and blue, stronger that any bond Anakin had ever had, save for the one he had had with his mother. He stroked it reverently. He stopped reluctantly when he saw Rex shiver.

"How do you feel, Rex?" His shields had come back up, Anakin noted, but the bond was still wide open.

Rex made a series of tiny movements that felt practiced. It also felt familiar, though Anakin couldn't put a finger on why. When he finished, Rex shrugged. "Like I took a nap in my armor."

Anakin accepted that. "Fair."

He opened his mouth to ask about the bond he had found, and accepted. Thin as it had been, it had still been much more then he had expected, much more than Rex should have been able to manage. Reason kicked in before he formed the first word, and his teeth clicked shut.

This was not a place where things like that could be discussed. For the same reasons Anakin didn't ask Kix about the things he had felt, had seen, Anakin could not ask Rex about this. Some things were better left unspoken. It was safer that way.

"Headache?" Anakin asked instead, gesturing wastefully, uselessly, at his own head. "Weird floaty feeling?" From what he had been able to gather, the former was usually a symptom of a successful bond, the latter was...mostly a hunch, some half forgotten memory that refused to manifest as anything but instinct.

The unshielded bond pulsed, like a heartbeat, and it took entirely too much willpower to keep from curling around it like it was his only heat source on Hoth. He didn't move to shield it either.

The Mind Healers had been clear; to drain power, the bond could not be shielded to the extent he was used to. Especially not with a Null—even if that wasn't actually what Rex was.

They would need something, if only to keep Anakin's existence from burning Rex's mind to a crisp, or whatever might happen. If nothing else, it was necessary that he at least tried to give Rex all of the privacy he should have naturally, as is every sentient's right.

To his credit, Rex actually took the time to consider Anakin's question, before shaking his head. "No, sir." There was no lie in his words.

Anakin let himself breathe just a little more easily. So far so good.

Something itched again at the back of his mind. Dozens of unprocessed sights, over heard conversations, little comments, all stockpiled in an unprocessed jumble bouncing around in the back of his head. He groped around for it until it manifested into understanding.

Armor is incredibly uncomfortable to sit in. Especially on the ground.

Anakin winced. Blast it. "We can do the next part at the table."

Rex quirked an eyebrow ever so slightly up, but nodded agreeably. "Next part, sir?"

"Yeah, I have a hole in my shields that leads directly to your mind," Anakin explained. "If someone, say—" Anakin waved a hand, gesturing for Rex to take his usual seat, while he moved to start straitening the mess he'd left the day before in his quest to extract information from the holocrons. "—manages to break into my mind, they would have a straight shot to yours." Rex slowly started moving to his seat, seemingly having come unstuck from his stance a few feet away from their impromptu nap space, then more rapidly. He eased himself down smoothly. Eyes fixed on his scattered datapads, off Rex, Anakin shrugged. "Beyond that—" does he actually need another reason? Shouldn't personal security be a pretty big thing for Rex, soldier and Captain and Vod? Well, Anakin had started the sentence, may as well finish it, "—it kind of feels like I have a...sheer cliff right behind me." Was that a good way to explain what Rex felt like in the Force? No. Did Anakin have a better way of saying it? Also no. "It's kind of..." stunning, "distracting."

Anakin glanced up just in time to see Rex's cheek flinch, and felt how he almost... curled in on himself on his side of the bond.

Trigger. What was—?

Non-threatening. He needed to be non-threatening, and calm.

A quick glance showed his working area of the table to be as clear as it was going to get, so he sat down, arranging his aching limbs into a relaxed, peaceful sprawl he had spent years teaching himself to avoid. Had made himself learn to fall into its exact opposite. Going against that made his skin crawl, but he'd done worse for people he cared about less.

"There is also the matter of privacy," he said as flippantly as he could when speaking of this particular topic. He smiled drolly. "I imagine you don't want me to catch every stray thought that's just a little too loud."

Rex inhaled sharply, then held it. Anakin watched, fascinated, as the thoughts he still couldn't read churned through his Signature from his side of the bond. Knowing that whatever Rex thought of wasn't always entirely negative when his face did that was nice. Rex nodded a second later, decision made.

"Understood, sir." He fixed his already impeccable posture. "What do I have to do?" His determination burned in his eyes and mind.

Anakin found himself reaching for the droid parts in front of him so he wouldn't try reaching for Rex. Rex did not need him to be clingy right now. Better to fiddle with the mouse droid he'd started building when he'd finished the comm he still needed to test last night, than crowd his Captain.

Rex had made it more than clear where his personal space started, and exactly haw far Anakin was allowed into it, and for what reasons, what circumstances, it was allowed to be breached. This was not one of them.

"To start, you already have shields. That means you know how to build them, right?"

Rex nodded. "Yes, sir. It's one of the first things cadets are taught."

Anakin frowned. "Oh?"

"Yes, sir. We were made for the Jedi." Yes, and Anakin hated it. He'd say it in those exact words to the entire Council if the subject ever came up, too. As if sensing his thoughts—not out of the realm of possibility anymore—Rex pinned him under a nearly earnest golden-brown gaze. "Jedi, as a rule, are empaths. As our Generals," Anakin laced his fingers together, and squeezed his medal digits. He did not like where this was going, "it wouldn't be professional if we distracted you because we couldn't control our thoughts and emotions."

And of course, Anakin thought bitterly, their privacy was just a side effect.

He broke off the thought before the flare of anger in his chest can boil over into something More. He has an unshielded bond with his Captain, he reminded himself. He must control himself, now more than ever. Its not like he can change it anyhow.

It is good to care, but being that angry won't help Rex, won't help his men.

Shouldn't have told Rex he was a distraction—that hurt him—Anakin didn't want to hurt him—

Stop. Breathe.

Positives. Focus on the positives.

He really hated being right sometimes.

"It's good you know how to shield," Anakin said carefully, after the seconds it took to ensure he wasn't about to blow up in misdirected rage. Should he apologize for saying something so thoughtless? Would Rex listen? "It'll make this much easier for both of us." Accepting would be his own choice, of course, but Anakin hadn't even scratched the surface for the horrors the Kaminoans had forced the Vod'e to endure.

He knew that the Kaminoans has drilled it into the Vod'e's heads that they were lesser, that the Jedi were better, one worth more that any number of them. Living legends do not apologize to clones they had purchased for the sole purpose of dying on command.

Anakin...had only wanted to not be a Jedi more than he did in that moment once before.

Anakin breathed in deep, then let it out slowly. He put the cloying curling shame to the side, where he left useless things to starve.

He was a Jedi, and while that in and of itself was not a bad thing, the path the Order was on only lead to rot and ruin. Slavery had that affect. He had no way of changing it, and the only was to not be a Jedi was to leave the Order. Leave the War. Leave the men.

Was it better to a monster who can keep people safer than they might be otherwise, or a good person who couldn't? Anakin didn't know, but he had already made his choice.

"Shielding a bond," he began, "is not that different from shielding you mind. In my experience, the biggest difference is that one is a natural inclination, and the other is not. Most people have regular shields they simply develop with time, and hold instinctively. Shielding bonds usually only happens during fights between the bonded, or when one or both are in danger."

Then why should they do it? Rex thought very loudly; so loudly it almost sounded like words when it shot through their very unshielded bond. His face, of course, shows nothing of what he felt.

If Anakin wasn't used to getting random passerby's feelings and images plastered to the surface of his own thoughts he may have responded more strongly than just a slow blink.

He unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth, and continued as if he hadn't sensed the pointed thought, droid gut click-click-clacking together in his fingers. It was a reasonable question though, so he paused long enough to regather his thoughts in a way that may answer the unasked question anyway.

"Force Sensitives are a different beast altogether. For one thing, we don't generally naturally create any sort of shields on our own. We have to deliberately craft them. Most do, even without training, simply because everyone needs a break from the world. Even still, those shields are still usually weaker than the average trained Sensitive can achieve," Jedi or not, he adds silently. "For another thing, if we do not shield our bonds, we are more than simply intimately aware of what our bonded are feeling, or where they are. It's..." Anakin trailed off, trying to find the words. Examples that might convey even a little of the dangers of sharing a mind space with another Force sensitive flicked through his brain, examined, then tossed aside when found to be inadequate.

Ah, scorch it.

"When two people spend a lot of time together, they inevitably start learning from each other, taking on characteristics from each other," he started. "With a Force bond, that happens even more quickly. Partly because it ensures they are aware of the other's emotions, and...more intense thoughts, where they are, what state their body is in, etcetera—" he had a point, he was sure of it. What was it? "—and partly because the bond also allows the people to share impulses, experiences and even dreams, however involuntarily." Anakin swallowed. He didn't want anyone to have to endure his nightmares.

He didn't want to endure them, by the Force he wasn't going to let his men experience them if he could stop it.

The Force nudged him, urging him to voice it. As if anything could ever be that simple.

The words jumble out of his mouth almost before he could think about it.

"Nightmares are unpleasant at the best of times, and I'd rather not share mine."

Anakin winced belatedly, and bit the inside of his lip until it stung. Telling the truth was rarely ever a bad thing, he reminded himself.

It didn't help.

The wash of shame that crashed through the bond was worse. When Anakin snapped his head up to look at Rex, having let his attention sink down to the mouse droid, Rex avoided his eyes.

"Understood, sir." He sounded as professional and crisp as always, but he wasn't meeting Anakin's gaze. Rex had never done that before. "I'll do my best." His shame was chocking.

Rex always did his best. That was never in question.

Anakin didn't want his shame; he just wanted Rex to understand.

"I—" the words lodge in Anakin's throat, thick and rotten sweet. What had he said? How did he fix it?

Rex chose that moment to finally meet his eyes. Golden-brown, wide and characteristically determined, Rex's gaze was steady.

Alright, then.

Anakin opened his mouth again and started explaining the relatively painless process of shielding a bond.

[galaxymysteryelephant]

The Start of Something New

The first chapter is also available on ao3 here.

Part one

---

“Anakin, I am going to put on some tea. Would you like a cup?” Ben asks his brother.

“No, I am alright. Thanks anyways,” Anakin shouts from the living room of Ben’s apartment. “What kind of movie are you feeling this afternoon? Action or comedy?”

“Action, I guess,” Ben answers as he puts the kettle onto the stove.

The ringing of a phone draws Ben’s attention away from prepping his tea. The caller ID on the phone almost makes his heart stop.

Shit. Rex is calling me. I told him to only call me if he wanted to cancel. Is he going to cancel the date altogether or want to reschedule?

The ringing stops. Silence fills the space for a minute before Ben's phone starts ringing again. And without looking at the caller ID, Ben knows it is Rex.

Why couldn't he just text me? Doesn't he know it is easier to deal with rejection when you cannot hear the other person's voice?

“Would you answer your phone, Ben?” Anakin shouts.

Ben pulls himself from his panicked state of mind to answer the phone. The only way to know why he is calling is to talk to him.

“Hello,” Ben answers the phone.

“Hey Ben,” Rex says. “I woke up a while ago and I realized I forgot to ask you if you had any food allergies that I need to know about.”

Ben releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He didn’t call to cancel. He just wants to know if I have allergies. What a relief.

“None that I am aware of,” Ben answers.

“Why do you sound all panicked?” Rex asks.

“I do not,” Ben states.

“Did you forget that I work as a firefighter? I can tell when someone is panicked, it is all about the inflection in their voice. You have that inflection. So, what has got you panicked?” Rex asks.

“I thought you were calling to cancel or reschedule,” Ben admits.

The kettle boils to a whistle signalling that his water is ready. Ben makes his way over to the stove to get it but Anakin waves him off. Ben watches as his brother pours the water into a mug with a tea bag and sets it on the counter to steep. “Who is on the phone?” Anakin mouths. Ben ignores him in favor of talking to Rex.

“You really think I would have called to cancel or reschedule?” Rex asks a hurt tone in his voice.

“Well, I hoped not. But what else was I to think when we agreed that you would call only if you were not feeling up to hosting.”

Rex laughs and Ben can hear the warmth in his tone through the speaker. “I see. I apologize for causing you panic then. But just know that I wouldn’t dream of cancelling tonight.”

“And why is that?” Ben asks.

“Because I have been trying to get a date with you for a long time now.”

“Will you be up for entertaining tonight?” Ben looks at his watch and catches that it is 2:30pm. “It has only been about four hours. Are you sure you got enough sleep?”

“Yeah, I am fine. Trust me when I say that four hours is a good night sleep for me,” Rex states. He is quiet on the other line of the phone for a moment. “What would you like for dinner?”

“What were you planning on making me?” Ben asks in lieu of answering the question.

“I was thinking of doing a Maori boil-up.”

“What is that?” Ben asks curiously.

“It is when you boil meat and vegetables together in a large pot of water. You can use any kind of meat, but I was thinking of doing chicken. I mean, who doesn’t like chicken?” There is a pause as Rex waits for Ben to voice his dissent. When he doesn't Rex continues, “For the vegetables I was thinking watercress, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and kumara.”

“Kumara?” Ben asks, unfamiliar with the vegetable name Rex used.

“Oh, sweet potatoes,” Rex answers. “Does that sound of interest to you? If not, I can make something else.”

“That sounds perfect,” Ben answers. “Are you positive you do not want me to bring dessert?”

“Yah nah,” Rex replies. Before Ben can ask what that means, Rex’s smooth voice comes over his speaker. “I was going to make pavlova; it is a meringue filled with whipped cream and fruit.”

“That sounds delicious,” Ben states. He can already feel his mouth watering. “I cannot wait,” he admits after a moment.

“Neither can I,” Rex states. “I guess I should let you go. I need to make a quick run to the store to get some things, anyways. I will see you tonight.”

“I will see you at 6,” Ben says. He hangs up the phone and has a huge smile across his face.

“Who was that on the phone?” Anakin asks his brother. Anakin is leaning against the kitchen counter and leveling his brother with a stare.

“A guy I have a date with tonight,” Ben answers as he grabs his mug of tea and takes it to the living room with his brother on his heels.

“You are going on a date, like an actual date?” Anakin asks disbelievingly as he takes a seat on the couch.

“We are having dinner at his apartment. And I am pretty sure we are just going to hang out.” Ben takes a seat next to Anakin and catches the look of disappointment on his brother's face. “What?”

“You are going to his apartment?”

“Yeah,” Ben states.

“How well do you know this guy?”

“I have known him for a while now,” Ben states.

It isn’t really a lie but it isn’t the whole truth either. Ben has been frequenting the cafe that Rex’s runs with his brother for quite some time now but he actually doesn’t know much about the man himself. All Ben knows is what he learned earlier that morning: Rex is a firefighter; works at the coffee shop with his brother; is gay; and has never been in a relationship because he puts his work first.

Does that mean that Rex has not had any casual relationships? Is he a virgin?

“If you have known him for a while now, how come this is the first time I am hearing about him?” Anakin questions.

“This is the first time he asked me out,” Ben states matter of factly.

“Have I met him?” Anakin questions.

“I don’t know,” Ben answers truthfully.

“Can I have a name?”

“No,” Ben replies.

“Why?”

“Because I know that when I do give it to you, you will do a background check on him.”

“And what is wrong with that?” Anakin asks. “Is it too bad to want to know what kind of person my brother is dating?”

“No, I know you are just looking out for me. But sometimes you take it too far.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was that one girl that I was seeing who claimed you harassed her through social media. And that is just one of many examples.”

“I wasn’t harassing her, I was just asking her questions,” Anakin retorts. “There is a difference.”

“Either way, you made her uncomfortable.” Ben looks to his younger brother and gives him a smile. “I don’t want you to scare this guy away. He is very nice and is the first person that I can actually see a future with. Please do not ruin this for me.”

“Alright,” Anakin agrees. Several moments of silence pass between the brothers before Anakin admits, “I still do not agree with you having a first date at his place.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you don’t really know him. What if he is a serial killer? Or a rapist?”

“I am pretty sure he is neither of those things, Anakin.”

“You aren’t really making me feel any better. There is a difference between pretty sure and definitely sure.” Anakin levels his brother with a glare, “And I need you to be definitely sure.”

“Anakin, I am positive that he is not a serial killer or a rapist. He is far too nice for that.”

“Still worried. And you do know that being far too nice isn’t a good thing, right? It means he is hiding something.”

“You are overreacting, Anakin. He is a nice man and has a kind heart.”

“If he is so nice, why was he insistent that the first date take place in his apartment?”

“He was overworked and exhausted when I saw him earlier. He wants to be comfortable in case he falls asleep while we are hanging out,” Ben answers.

“You do know that more effort probably goes into having someone over than it does going out, right? I mean, he needs to clean his place and make dinner. If he was truly exhausted he wouldn’t be up for hosting. It is kind of suspicious to me.”

Ben averts his gaze from his brother and stares out the window.

I wasn’t thinking about any of that. I was just too excited at the prospect of going on a date with Rex that I didn’t take his exhaustion into account. I was the one who was insistent that we hang out tonight, and he was just too polite to turn me down.

Did I make more work for him by agreeing to go over his place? I mean, he wouldn’t have offered to have me over if it was going to be too much for him, would he?

Ben looks at his brother, “You may have a point on that,” he admits quietly. “But I think he just wants to have a quiet evening in, where we can talk uninterrupted.”

“Just be careful, Ben.”

“Always, dear brother. But I can assure you no harm will befall me.”

“Alright,” Anakin relents. A moment of silence passes between them before Anakin asks, “Do you still want to watch a movie? Or do you want to get ready for your date?”

“We can watch a movie, Anakin,” Ben states.

[writer1]

Fear of the unknown

Chapter 8

You and Rex comm Anakin after getting him some pain killers, telling him the situation. He arrived shortly after, already apologizing.

"Rex, I'm so sorry. If I had realized that there was a full moon tonight I would have had you stay on the Resolute."

"It's f- fine General. It isn't your fault, besides the mission comes first." Rex is clutching his stomach and breathing hard, it breaks your heart to see him in so much pain.

"It's not fine Rex, you're off duty until the full moon is over, I'll see if the queen will let you stay in the palace." Rex's eyes go wide at that, you can tell that he's going to fight Anakin on it.

"You don't need to do that General, I can stay in the tents like my brothers."

"Rex, Anakin's right, look at you. Your going to need somewhere comfortable to transform if you're already in this much pain." Rex sighs, finally giving in.

"Fine, if you insist." You chuckle, it's just like Rex to try to act strong. You can tell though that he's happy not to have to be in a tent while he transforms.

"I'll contact the queen right now, you just relax Rex. I'll take care of everything." You both nod and you look at Rex, you put your hand on his shoulder, you can feel him shaking. This is worse than you thought.

"Do you need anything Rex." Rex shakes his head, the painkillers that you got him before did nothing.

"I don't think so cyare. Those painkillers you gave me did nothing, I don't think anything's going to help." You feel so bad for him, he doesn't deserve to be in this much pain. You see Anakin walking over to you, you're hopeful that the queen will let Rex sleep in the palace.

"The queen will allow Rex and you to stay in the palace, she already told me where your room is so follow me." You and Rex both follow Anakin into the palace, you holding Rex's hand tightly. You arrive at a room, as soon as Anakin presses in the keypad and opens the door, Rex walks over and pretty much falls into the bed.

"By the way Rex, the queen said that she hopes you feel better."

'T-thats nice. Tell her thanks for me." Rex tells him from the bed, not even looking at Anakin. You can tell from the way Rex is acting that it feels better to be off his feet.

"Thanks Anakin, comm us if anything happens okay." Anakin nods.

"Of course, y/n. Make sure Rex rests, ok."

"Don't worry, I will." Anakin leaves and you the door closes behind him, leaving you and Rex alone. You walk over to the bed, Rex is laying there curled up in pain.

"Rex, you should get your armor off sweetheart. It'll hurt even more if you transform with it on." Rex mumbles something unintelligible then sits up and starts taking off his armor slowly, you helping him.

Once all his armor is off Rex takes off his shirt to make the transformation easier, when you're putting his armor on the floor next to the bed you feel Rex grab your waist and pull you into the bed.

"Rex, sweetie. What are you doing." You're about to chuckle when he whimpers in pain, pulling you against his chest.

"It hurts cyare. Want to cuddle." You answer him by wrapping your arms around him and running your finger through the buzzed hair on the back of his head.

You grab your datapad off the side table beside the bed, it's hard to do with Rex cuddling you but you manage it, checking the time. The moon should be up in about an hour, so Rex has a little while to go. Poor Rex is still whimpering in pain, which is so unlike him.

"Shhh, it's okay Rex, it's going to be okay." Rex just whimpers as you rub his head, he's covered in sweat and you can see a tiny bit of fur starting to grow on his arms. You and him lay there like that, you rubbing his head and whispering soothing words in his ear, and him laying there in pain. The pain thankfully isn't getting any worse, staying at relatively the same level.

You check the datapad and realize that the hour is up, Rex is transforming albeit slower than usual, it takes about 3 minutes for him to fully transform. He's still in pain, even though he's transformed.

You brush your hand through his fur, and hear his whimpers start to die down a little. He hugs you close, pushing his snout into your hair. You keep brushing your fingers through his fur, you can tell that he's absolutely exhausted from everything. The only reason he isn't sleeping right now is because of the pain.

It takes a few hours of brushing your hand through his fur and comforting him to finally get him to fall asleep. You wait a little while before falling asleep yourself, just in case he woke up, not wanting him to be alone in this state. You do finally let sleep over take you, listening Rex's breathing.

×××

You wake up to sunlight pouring through the window, Rex's arms are still wrapped around you. He's still a werewolf and you turn over and nuzzle into his chest, feeling fur brush your face. You try to go back to sleep when you feel Rex move, starting to also wake up. He opens his eyes and looks at you. You hear him whimper a little.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling."

"I'm feeling a tiny better, but it still hurts. And I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to transform." You smile comfortingly and brush the fur on Rex's face, and he leans into your fingers, he's tense with pain and you hope that it'll go away soon.

You move up in the bed and kiss his forehead, you feel so bad that Rex has to go through this, but at least now you can be prepared for next time this happens.

"I wish that I could kiss you right now, cyare." You chuckle, even when he's in pain he's still sweet to you. You kiss his forehead again when you hear your comm go off, you stand up and grab it off the table, Rex whines at the loss of you touch, still laying in bed. You wonder what's wrong, Anakin said that he would only comm you if something was wrong.

"Anakin, what is it?" You hear his voice come over the comm.

"Is Rex transformed back to human yet?" You're confused, why would Anakin ask that? You look towards Rex, who's just as confused as you.

"No, he's actually still in pain, although it's not as much. It must be some left over affects of the full moon. Why?" You hear Anakin sigh.

"Y/n, the Council has intel that grievous is on Naboo, and they sent the 212th for back up." Oh no! That means Cody is here, and you know that Cody and Rex are close.

"Cody's asking for Rex. What am I supposed to tell him." You think for a few seconds and decide that you and Rex need to talk it over.

"Just give us a few minutes to think, ok, Anakin."

"Ok, comm me back when you figure it out." You look towards Rex, he looks scared, and you understand why. Cody still has no idea about Rex being a werewolf.

"Do you think you can transform Rex?" He closes his eyes to concentrate but whimpers loudly immediately.

"I can't cyare, I'm already aching all over but when I try to transform it increases tenfold." You try to think of a solution, but nothing comes to mind that will work, Rex can't transform and he's still in pain do he should probably rest.

"So what should we do." Rex sigh's.

"I want Cody, please." You nod, leaving the room to go get Cody. You just hope that he won't freak out to much.

Taglist: @captainrexisboo @tobitofunction @pentaghasm @ohmsjedi @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life @ellie1366 @marine-captain-deku @reimet @commanderrivercc-3628

[fanbynature]

Can you feel my heart?

OBIKIN X AU /PART 2/

Okay, so some comments before you start to read again.

The pictures are inspiration for Obi’s work place and apartment. Also for Asajj’s, Ahsoka’s and Rex’s appearance.

This is for sure still going to be Obikin end game it just got a little bit off the rails so bear with me. I need a little bit of love drama. My life is boring.

Also some more ages

Cody/Wolffe/Quinlan - 28, Asajj - 30, Aayla/Hera - 24

I noticed that there were quite a few mistakes in the previous one even though I checked it, but I apologise if this one got too. Again I do check them but I miss stuff.

Also if anyone has been feeling bad about themself let me tell you something that could probably make feel a little bit better.

I wrote a 5k word chapter for this but overwrited and I didn’t had the autosaved option on so now I need to try and remember what the heck did I write.

Enjoy

Ahsoka had just headed out to Uni and Obi-wan was cleaning the last things from breakfast. He headed to his bed, sat and starred and the card in his hand and then started typing the number on his phone. He pressed the call button and waited for the dialling sound.

 After a few seconds of waiting someone picked.

 “Yes?”

 “Hello, is this Anakin Skywalker? “

 “Speaking.”

 “Yes, this is Obi-wan from the band “Space Maniacs. I am calling you about the offer you made us.”

 “Ah, yes. Hello, nice of you to call. I hope you are going to give me a positive answer, I would be really glad to work with you.”

“Yes. I mean yes – it is a positive answer. We would like to meet you and tell us the details.”

 “Awesome. Okay just give me a minute and I’ll be back with you.”

 “No problem”

 “Okay then, let’s see. How about Thursday this week, is it okay for you?”

 “Yeah, we’ll work it out.”

 “Okay. The time - how about 2 pm?”

 “Yeah, that’s fine.”

 “Excellent. See you then.”

 “Yes, see you. Bye.”

 In Obi-wan’s opinion that went better than he anticipated. He let out a breath he was holding in and felt lighter. 

In that case, he better catch on some sleep for work. A scratching noise from the balcony door caught his attention. His furry friend was back. He sat on the floor and started petting it.

“Maybe I should give you a name. It would be easier for us, won’t it? Hmm, what’s a good name for a pet cat? I don’t have the experience for this. “

He starred at the purring creature for a little while longer and said.

“How about Spotty? You have two spots on your eyes, not that original I know. Do you like it Spotty?”

The cat continued rubbing herself in Obi-wan’s hands, putting her paws on his legs, waiting for permission to snuggle up in his lap. He took her from the ground and lifted her close to his face.

 “You don’t like it? Hmm”

 The cat put her paws on his face, lightly moving them across it.

 “What about Ziggy? Like Ziggy Stardust.”

 The cat let out a soft meow.

 “Oh, a reaction – is it a positive one? Or a negative one.”

 He put her on his lap and started petting her again.

 “Well, I’ll continue calling you Ziggy if you don’t like it just ignore it and I’ll go back to calling you furry friend and little one.”

 The cat looked at him and meowed then put his head in his lap and started purring.

 “Well, now I have to sleep on the floor, Ziggy.”

 After just sitting there for an hour, the man stood up slowly and put the cat next to his bed on a pillow he wasn’t using so he could sleep.

-------------------------------------------------

The alarm woke him up five hours after that and he got up to get ready. Ziggy wasn’t at the foot of the bed neither outside. He decided to leave some food and water if she comes around later. After showering and drinking coffee he was ready to go out. He also started hearing Ahsoka’s nagging voice in his head making him eat something or take something for later but he couldn’t be bothered at the moment. Maybe he’ll buy something on the way there. 

 The traffic was always awful at this time of the hour. You would think that travelling in the air would lessen the traffic, well you thought wrong. It’s just as awful – this was Coruscant, you can’t expect anything less. That’s why he always left from his apartment with time to spare because he liked to be there on time. Also fairly speaking the cantina was posh even if it was on the lower levels. The costumers Cody accepted weren’t low lives. They weren’t pretentious people but they were with a decent amount of money in their pockets, didn’t shy away from spending them but they also didn’t create trouble. Or at least the kind of trouble Cody would allow. There were exotic dancers with some private activity they would do from time to time but everything was legit and it for sure wasn't a brothel and if anyone thought otherwise they wouldn’t be able to set even one foot inside the place. Well, places. Cody ran two cantinas, he and his third brother Wolffe. They were placed in different places on the planet, so they didn’t see each other that often but from time to time Cody would go and check if things are running smoothly. The Fett brothers are all reasonably level-headed and serious people, so in Obi-wan’s opinion, they won’t have problems running and growing their business. As you know there are always exceptions to the rules – Rex is a good man, but sometimes not as sensible as his older brothers, him and his kid brother Boba are true troublesome kids sometimes. But maybe that’s why Obi-wan has a soft spot for them. Especially Boba – the little rascal can get out of any trouble with his puppy eyes, at least as far Obi-wan is concerned. Those tricks, however, haven’t worked for a long time on his brothers or father. Sometimes Obi-wan ends up being a shield for Mando’a insults, which are quite colourful and fun in his opinions but no 13 years old should know them. 

 “Gar batnor shabiur.” /You drunk halfwit/

 “What did you call me, kid?”

 “You heard me, besom” /ill-mannered lout, unhygienic person/

“Kid, you better watch your mouth. I don’t care that your brother runs this place; you are going to end up beat up.”

 Obi-wan was minding his business on the bar, serving people when he heard a brawl from somewhere in the cantina. He looked around, squinting to find the source of the disturbance and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Boba was trying to pick up a fight with someone three times his size. It was a dowutin. Son of a bantha. Obi-wan thought. This kid sure knows how to attract trouble. He excused himself to his co-workers and went to stop whatever mess Boba dragged himself into. Cody is going to have an aneurysm from his kid brother.

 “Good evening, what seems to be the trouble?”

 “The little punk here is looking for trouble. I don’t pride myself in beating up little kids but who knows what can happen in the lower levels of Coruscant at night?”

 “Who are you calling little? Also, are you threatening me in my brother cantina, gar di’k-“

 Obi-wan put his hand on Boba’s mouth, signalling him to shut up.

 “I am so sorry about the trouble, miss. I’ll be sure to watch over this little punk here and not let him cause any trouble for you or the other clients here. Say sorry, Boba.”

 “Nayc”/No/

 “Boba work with me here,” the older man said with gritted teeth facing the teen 

 Boba humped exaggeratedly but complied.

 “Won’t happen again, sorry,” the teen said without any actual remorse in his voice.

 But the dowutin was pleased enough so Obi-wan gave a small nod to the client and waited for her to be out of sight. 

 “What the in the kriffing hells are you trying to do exactly?” The older man turned harshly towards the teen trying to compose himself as he was still at work and started pushing the boy next to the bar. “You are taking your things and going to Cody.”

 “No! Also in no way that was a girl. This-“ 

Obi-wan slapped him across the head before he could continue.

 “Lower your voice and stop insulting people. Also if you didn’t want to go to Cody you should have thought about it before you started picking fights with much bigger beings than you.”

 “Oh, please, Obi I’ll be good. Please don’t take me to my brother. It’s soooo boring. He just reads papers, signs stuff and doesn’t even spare me a glance.”

 “Well, that’s called working. It’s supposed to be boring so you can have more fun when you are not working.”

 “But your band is fun and that’s also working. That’s what you told me.” The teen was starting to sulk and Obi-wan didn’t have time to deal with this right now. It was rush hour and his co-workers were going to hate him.

 “Look, sometimes there are aspects of one’s job that are boring and then there are parts that are less boring or even fun. It can’t be all fun and games. Do you understand me? Sometimes people have to sacrifice something to be able to receive another thing, okay.”

 Boba was earnestly listening to him and he hoped that something went inside that buckethead of his. 

 “Yes, I understand. Can I go play in the backroom then? I promise I won’t disturb you anymore.” And the puppy eyes were on, how could he say no? He sighed and nodded. Boba did a little happy jump and hugged Obi-wan, took his things and went in the back room where the staff usually rested. 

 He returned to the bar and threw Asajj, who was next to him, an apologetic smile.

 “I am sorry for that. This kid is a magnet for trouble.”

 “No worries, love. We all know. It’s good that at least someone takes interest in him around here. You are more a brother to him than his blood one and teaching him more useful things that he’ll ever will.”

 “Oh, I won’t go that far.”

 “Sorry, what was that – one bespin fizz and two blurrgfire. Coming right up”

 “Well, I would and the people who haven’t arrived here yesterday would. Even Cody would go that far.”

 “I can’t be that harsh towards Cody. He is trying to run his own business and he is keeping it afloat plus is a pretty damn decent one.”

 “Here you go, love. That’ll be 12,50 cred. Thank you. Here’s the change. Didn’t say he wasn’t doing other stuff and living his life and so on. That doesn’t change the fact that you care so much for that kid. And not only because Cody is his brother and your best friend - his kid brother is a pain in the ass but you like the little troublemaker for whatever reason and you worry for him.” 

 “Yeah, I do. I guess I just have a soft spot for cute and small creatures.”

 Asajj smiled at him

 “Guess so.”

 While the Obi-wan was recalling the events of the previous month he had arrived at his destination. He got out of the hovertaxi and headed for the backdoor of the building. He got around 15 minutes to spare so he went to smoke a cigarette. Obi-wan stopped in his track as he saw the scene in front of him. Asajj was making out with her boyfriend and his childhood friend, Quinlan. It was already awkward for him so he tried to hide under the stairs and hoped they won’t notice him but with no such luck. As he lit his cigarette he heard the voice of his friend.

 “Look what the loth-cat dragged in? If this isn’t Obi-wan Kenobi?”

  “The one and only, hello Vos.”

 “Hey, come on, don’t be a stranger. Come here and let’s hug it out.”

 Obi-wan looked at Asajj trying to send some signal so she can try and stop this madness. She just smiled at him and shrugged. This, little-

Before he could finish his thought strong arms enveloped around him, crushing his ribs and stopping his breath for a second, after that he felt a stinging slap on his ass. 

 “Still a hot piece of ass.”

 “Your girlfriend is right there, do you have no shame.” Obi-wan rolled his eyes even though he knew better than to ask. No, this man had no shame whatsoever. 

 “Nah, she knows you are on my pass list. You are on hers too.”

 For sith’s sake, how did he even became friends with this person, he would never know. Okay, he knows but that was in his past, he is not like THAT anymore. Maybe just less.

 He looked at Asajj again, shaking his head in disapproval. She was smoking now and yet again she just shrugged but this time send him a wink. Okay, the image of him being in the middle of that sex sandwich was not what he needed at the moment. 

 The forgotten cigarette in his fingers was starting to get shorter and the heat from it returned him to the reality, he tossed it on the ground and put it out with his foot.

 “When did you come back?” Obi-wan asked Quinlan without looking at him as he was taking another cigarette out.  

 “Just last night. I heard that you were having some troubles.”

 Obi-wan stopped with his lighter mid-air. His mind and heart started racing. How could he know? Rex wouldn’t tell anyone. What if someone, what if that guy- 

 “The little rascal Boba is making your hair prematurely grey, huh.”

Oh, OH! Boba. 

 “He sure is” Obi-wan tried to shrug off the feeling of uneasiness and anxiety as he laughed and lit his cigarette.”But I won’t care for him any less. You know that better than anyone, Q” The ginger man looked at his friend through the smoke of his cigarette. He could see the sentimental emotions on the other man’s face written as clearly as his yellow tattoo across his face. Obi-wan glanced towards Asajj – her back was turned towards them, she was taking out her cigarette and going inside. Then his eyes landed on the man in front of him. Vos was softly smiling to himself, probably remembering something from their younger, much wilder days. Then the darker man looked at him again, extended his hand and started caressing his face.

 “Kriff, don’t I know it?” A few beats passed between them, staying in the same position, with Obi-wan continuously smoking and trying not to blow the smoke straight into his friend’s face. He hated smoking. Well, at least that’s what he started saying three years ago. Before that, he was like spice on fire.”You are becoming prettier each time I see you.”

 The ginger man snorted and rolled his eyes.

 “Yeah, I know but thank you.”

 “What I fool I have been, Obi, all these years.”

 “Have you just come to this realization or you just came to accept it?”

 Quinlan smiled and continued speaking.

 “That mouth of yours has put us into so much trouble and gotten us out of trouble as much. “

 “I got it from my daddy.” The ginger man arched an eyebrow at his friend and laughed. Quinlan laughed with him and went to caress his long locks. “This looks so good on you, truly.”

 “Don’t you have a girlfriend to throw your compliments at? As much as I am flattered I don’t know how she would feel. And honestly, I would love to just stand here and just have you adore me but I have to go to work. I am sure we can see each other these days.” Obi-wan threw his second cigarette next to first and stepped on it also. He turned his head to his friend and was taken aback by his friend leaning forward and tried to retreat as fast he could.

 Quinlan looked at him and smiled.

 “I guess it’s a little too late for that, huh. No hard feelings, Obi, none from me. I hope none from you too.” 

 Quinlan got close to him and kissed him on his temple. Obi-wan went cool as a dead star on the outside but his emotions were in a jumble inside. Why does Vos always have to come and make everything complicated? 

 “See you soon, Obi.”

 Obi-wan cursed in his head and headed inside the cantina. This was not the time for old feeling resurfacing, not at all. He spotted Asajj as she was preparing herself for opening and headed towards her. 

 “Can you please do something about your boyfriend?”

 She looked at him, confusion written all over her face.

 “Whatever do you mean, love?”

 “Please, don’t play dumb with me. You are smarter than that.”

 The woman laughed.

 “Surely but where’s the fun in that. I can’t see you antagonizing over it then.”

 “Do the two of you want to end me or something? “

 “Oh, come on, love. We are merely having a little fun.”

 “On the expense of other people”

 Asajj chuckled and looked at her watch.

 “I think you have to get ready, unlike Quinlan and I, you won’t be able to satisfy our boss that way as he doesn’t even like doin that stuff. And no matter how much he loves you as his dear friend he doesn’t like showing favouritism while he is working at least.”

 Asajj winked at him and continued sorting out the bar. The younger man death stared at the older woman and went to get changed.

 -------------------------------------------

 This shift was NOT going all right. Except Cody not being mad at him, everything else was going off the rails. He had more than 10 drinks poured on him, he was hit on more times than he liked to know, he got almost groped 3 times but thanks to his fast reflexes he managed to avoid causing a scene and was able to warn the people who even dared to think that was going to happened and this was not even half-way into the shift.

 Aayla was sending him encouraging smiles and thumb ups when she was on the bar. Aayla both served and worked on the bar and today was serving shift for her. He sometimes helped her when the bar wasn’t too busy as they had two floors and both floors had bars but not enough servers sometimes. He didn’t know what Cody was doing with managing the shifts or the personnel but it had been shitty for the past year. And he had the nerve to tell him that he couldn’t give him more shifts and told Ahsoka he didn’t need more staff. Huh, he should talk with him. 

 His attention shifted towards the loud voice that was coming from the side of him. He looked over from the table he was trying to clean up to his right, leaned forward a bit as he couldn’t see the whole scene. As every detail came into his vision he could see into one of the V.I.P boots, an extremely intoxicated client shouting at Aayla. He couldn’t make out what they were shouting about and he started heading towards the scene, trying to muster up his best customer smile. Inhale, exhale. He was starting to make up what all the fuss was about and it seems that he wasn’t happy with the drink he had been served but Aayla was trying to politely explain that this was exactly what he had ordered and if he wanted something else they could change it, there was no need for the foul language. And she was right – he was calling her names, how she shouldn’t be working here but at the back where the dancers usually gave private sessions to clients. He could see that Aayla was trying her hardest not to lose her cool but she was breaking. Obi-wan stood between them. 

“Good evening, if there is any problem that you are having I would be incredibly pleased to listen to it and forward it to my boss if we can’t resolve it between us that is. You seem agitated and you are orally abusing my colleague here. I hope there is nothing big that is worrying you or is there, sir?”

 The duros in front of him looked like he wanted to say something more, but decided against it.

 “Bring me another drink and hurry up.”

 “Of course, sir, I’ll bring you our finest liquor.”

 Obi-wan turned on his heels and grabbed Aayla by her forearm. 

 “Thank you.” She whispered

 “You don’t have to. You’ll soon learn how to deal with those kinds of sleemos. “

 “I hope so.”

 Obi-wan looked at the younger female and rubbed her back reassuringly.

 “Or you don’t have to. Just look for me or Asajj. Or if we are not here just someone who has been here longer - most of them know how to deal with them. Okay?” He smiled her hoping to comfort her more. She smiled weakly back at him and nodded. 

 --------------------------------------------------------- 

The rest of the shift passed rather slowly and nothing major happened except a few broken glasses from the washer. At the end of the shift, which was 7 am, Obi-wan had his feet up against the wall at the staff’s room, unlight cigarette in his mouth. 

 “Are you going to smoke that cigarette or suck it like a lollipop? “

 He could hear Asajj from behind him.

 “Ugh, I don’t even have the energy for moving my finger.”

 Suddenly the cigarette was out of his mouth

 “Give it to me then.”

 “Hey, give it back.”

 “You are not even using it.”

 “I was sucking on it.” he said with note of sarcasm in his voice

 At that moment the door opened and blue appendages came into sight.

 “Do you want to get a lift home, guys? My friend is picking me up so she can give you one as well? “

 “Sure” Asajj shrugged and stood up.

 “If it’s not much trouble” Obi-wan tried to spin himself to get off the wall but gracefully fell on his back

 “Ow”

 “Come on, you idiot. Get up.” Asajj extended her hand and he took it. He was eyeing the cigarette in her mouth and took it after he stood up.

 “Hey”

 “That was mine anyways”

 Asajj decided she was in a teasing mood so she bit back while getting closer to Obi-wan.

 “Maybe I tell you that while you are sucking off, Quinlan” she smirked and it took the ginger a few seconds before he could react.

 “VENTRESS”

The young twi’lek just slowly backed out from the room and shouted

 “I am waiting for you outside”

 “Look what you did. You are traumatizing the poor girl.” The younger man was trying to sound scandalized but couldn’t help a smile

 “Oh, she’ll be fine, love” Asajj threw an arm around his neck and they headed outside

 “You are unbelievable” Obi-wan shook his head in disapproval 

 “Thank you”

 The man looked at her like she grew a second head and lit his cigarette. Cody had left 30 minutes ago while they were still cleaning some stuff and the staff for the first shift was briefed on everything they needed to know. The first shift was usually a lot calmer but also very slow. People usually came for coffee and breakfast and sometimes brunch and early drink, but it wasn’t too much hassle. Maybe Aayla would feel more comfortable there. 

 His thoughts were broken by a ringing sound.

 “You are ringing”

 “Thank you for the observation, I can hear.”

 It was Rex; he is probably going to work.

 “Hey, how is it going?”

 “Same old, I am travelling to work. I hoped to catch you before you went to bed. How did the conversation go?”

 “We have a meeting in two days, at 2 pm. I know that you are working an office job but you can do it remotely when you have to, right?”

 “Yeah, sure, I’ll them that I need to do it from home. I am glad that this is going okay.”

 “Yeah, me too.”

 “I’ll call Ahsoka later, don’t worry. Go rest.”

 “Okay, thank you. Have a nice day at work.”

 “Hope I don’t decapitate somebody. Later.” 

 Obi-wan snorted and hung up.

 “Rex?”

 “Yeah.” 

 “What’s this meeting about, if it’s not a secret.”

 Obi-wan observed her for a bit and spoke.

 “Hmm, no one except the group knows and I haven’t thought of you as the first person to talk about it but sure why not? “

 “Am I that awful of a friend?”

 “What, no- wait, you think we are friends?” Obi-wan’s face and voice were full of confusion.

 “Are we not? “ The woman said matter of factly like she wasn’t even asking the question but it was an obvious observation.  

 “I mean-sure, yeah. I haven’t thought about it this way, but, yeah.”

 Asajj put a hand across her heart and posed melodramatically. 

 “I am hurt, Kenobi. We have worked together for how many years now.”

 “Four”

 “It was a rhetorical question, dumbass.” She said deadpan and continued “I know we are not on the level you have with your little gang of misfits but I have told you personal secrets, I have told you the story about-“

“Yeah, I don’t want to hear it again, thank you very much. It’s engraved deeply into my mind, thank you very much. I didn’t ask you for your secrets, but thanks, I guess.”

 Asajj scanned him for a second and continued.

 “You are a very comforting man. It’s a gift.”

 Obi-wan looked at her with absolute confusion painted on his face.

 “Me?!”

 “My friend is around the corner”

 They both looked at the younger girl, a little surprised at her as she hasn’t spoken until now. They were in their world really so they couldn’t blame her. They stood up and got closer to the girl.

 Soon enough a light grey light freighter with some yellow stripes on it came into their view. Its door opened with a hiss and a green female twi’lek came into view.

 “Dramatic” 

 Obi-wan snorted at Asajj’s comment. 

 “Hey, Aayla. Work was good?” the female went down to hug her friend.

 “Hey, I have seen better days but I’ll tell you later.” Aayla was trying to signal her friend about the people next to them.

 “Guys, this is Hera. Hera this is Obi-wan and Asajj.”

 “Nice to meet you” Hera extended her hand for a shake and the man took it smiling at her.

 “Likewise,” Asajj said and winked at her

 Obi-wan rolled his eyes and spoke

 “Just ignore her, she can be weird sometimes.”

Obi-wan smiled apologetically to the girl, she didn’t say anything.

 “Well, I won’t take more of your time; I’ll just take you home then. Hope on”

 “Yes, thank you very much for that”

 They started boarding the vehicle while looking curiously around. They don’t travel by that kind of transportation every day. This was usually used for planetary transportation of cargo, even fighting on the battlefront. How curious.

 “How did you come into having that kind of transport? Do you work for a transport company or something like that? “

 Ah, Ventress – blunt as ever.

 “Something like that. It’s an inheritance and my home away from home.”

 “Oh, very hippie. I can get behind it.”

[ct-hardcase]

Clone Friendship Headcanons

Friendships within the 501st:

Jesse/Kix/Hardcase: Best of Buddies, would ride or die for each other, have known each other since the three of them joined the 501 as shinies, ultimate bros. Jesse and Kix were both devastated when Hardcase died, and Jesse was devastated when Kix disappeared. When Kix woke up, he often found himself missing both of them.

Harcase/Tup: Hardcase saw Tup’s ambition and started to do something that would be a mix between mentoring (if it were anyone but Hardcase) and being a friend, so Tup feels pretty close to him. Hardcase likes Tup a lot as well.

Jesse & Kix/Tup: They like him because Hardcase brought them around him, but they’re not as close to him as they were to Hardcase until after Umbara, when they became better friends with him, partly out of their shared experience, but also partly because Dogma and Hardcase are both gone and they figured he needed some companionship. Tup appreciates it and gets along well with the two of them after a while.

Tup/Dogma: They made friends when they first entered the battalion, and while Tup still likes Dogma alright, he’s starting to relax a little whereas Dogma has not heard of the word “relax” in his entire life, so the two try and pull each other in different directions. It’s because they care about the other.

Rex/Dogma: While their relationship definitely focuses more on the officer and subordinate aspect than Rex’s other friendships with the lower-ranked clones, Rex sees himself in Dogma’s difficulties and tries to help him adjust better. Dogma likes how Rex handles things and respects him.

Jesse & Kix & Hardcase/Rex: They always got on with him pretty alright, but as Jesse and Kix grew older and stayed in the battalion for two years, Rex got to know and like them, treating them less as subordinates (as he treated them during the first year or so they were in the war) and more as friends, especially when Jesse makes ARC rank and Kix gains more experience as a medic. They all make a significant effort to talk if they can all meet up later on in the war and talk about their various lives. These two are some of the only people Rex will gossip with aside from Cody.

Jesse/Fives: Good friends after Umbara, personalities got on well, Fives was the one that really helped Jesse get an in to the ARC program, they train together, and have an altogether good time.

Fives/Tup: Rose mostly out of the post-Umbara bond, Tup and Fives feel safe around each other. Jesse and Fives both watched Tup grow and train and get more confident and they’re so proud. Fives eventually starts seeing Tup for training and socializing more and as Tup gets his footing in the 501st, they gain a companionship.

Fives/Kix: Though they never got on as well as the others in their #squad, there’s still an implicit trust and friendship there, and Kix’s dry wit reminds Fives of Echo. Kix is happy that he gets to bounce his jokes off of someone who’ll respond positively who isn’t Jesse.

Fives/Echo: The best bros. Absolute ride or die. Could barely imagine their worlds without the other until they had to live it. They’d felt comfortable with one another from the beginning, pretty much since they joined Domino Squad, and they trusted each other with everything.

Echo/Jesse: Their friendship didn’t form as organically as the others, but Echo and Jesse heard that they had mutual friends in Fives and Rex, so Jesse feels morally obligated to talk to Echo because both of them are a little lonely. It forms slowly, but they grow to appreciate each other and learn that they share a similar sense of humor and a love for good stories. If they both make it to the rise of the Empire, they continue their friendship after that point.

212th:

Boil/Waxer: Ride or die, trust in each other completely and pretty much tell the other anything, bond over being overachievers and their ability to calm each other’s temperaments. This is someone else’s headcanon, but they make a great good cop/bad cop routine to introduce the shinies to the 212th. GAR’s most reluctant babysitters.

Cody/Boil & Waxer: He respects and trusts them, finds them good to talk to. They do a decent job of separating business from personal in terms of friendship, nobody accused Cody of favoritism when they got promoted because everyone saw how good Waxer and Boil were. Cody eventually becomes a lot closer to Boil as the war drags on, and Boil gets more responsibility/the 212th becomes more overworked/Kenobi’s plans get dumber.

Coruscant Guard:

Fox/Thorn/Stone/Thire: The Commanders are all good friends, often meet for drinks when they can, it’s a miracle if they can get more than two of them in one place at once, Thorn and Stone are the worst enablers for acting stupid, which happens more often then you think because they finally get to let their hair down (or not, in the case of Stone) after having to be entirely presentable and polite in front of civilians. Their salt-fests are absolutely on par with Cody and Wolffe’s, and they currently have a backlog of dirt on senators and representatives that the tabloids only dream of getting.

Everyone likes Sandwich Clone

Various Command Clones:

Rex/Wolffe: They’d consider each other friends, but not good friends. Will talk if they’re in the same vicinity, and they like working with each there in a militaristic context.

Rex/Cody: Ride or die, made friends during their initial training and haven’t separated since, really only became closer when they got assigned to their respective Generals, they’ve both seen each other at their absolute worst and have remained friends anyway. Both often talk to each other about their experiences, about what in the world is going on between Skywalker and Kenobi and why are they so cryptic, they complain, they laugh. They miss each other after the Republic falls, no matter the circumstances of their separation.

Rex/Bly: Good friends, will gladly interact if they’re in the area, will go out of their way to meet up if they’re on the same planet and doing so won’t disrupt everyone in the military.

Rex/Fox: They were never on the best terms to begin with, but after the incidents with Ahsoka and Fives, their relationship is especially strained. They’re both mature and don’t seek each other out for conflict. Notably, however, they do share a bond (as well as Wolffe) over their names being animal themed, and will agree with each other that everyone needs to shut the fuck up about it.

Rex/Gree: On chill terms. Acquaintances at their truest form. Will go out with mutual friends and maybe talk then. Gree thinks that Rex needs to chill a bit and Rex thinks that Gree is a bit pretentious but neither find the other actively annoying.

Gree/Monnk: The chillest friends, far less high-strung than most of their friends, Gree can let his metaphorical hair down around Monnk and appreciates it

Wolffe/Cody: Good friends, their salt-fests are legendary, Wolffe calms down a bit around Cody.

Wolffe/Fox: Good friends, not quite ride or die, but they met in training, it was a one in two chance that they either would become friends or hate each other, and they chose the former. Very set in their opinions and said opinions are similar, so they get on okay. Will not back down—they didn’t talk for a solid month while they were training because they had an argument.

Inter-Battalion/Other/Nonclone & Clone:

Hardcase/Waxer: I wrote a fanfic a while ago about them meeting while they were shinies, and I think that while they’d not actively try to keep it up, they’d say hi whenever the 212th and the 501st worked together and they were in those groups.

Most of the Coruscant Guard that’s worked with Senator Amidala can say that they like her and that she treats them with respect, talks to them, and is overall a good human being. It’s seen as an initiation if you guard Amidala and a mission goes wrong/she escalates the situation.

Rex is actually on pretty alright terms with Padme; she’s squeaked a conversation or two out of him, and he finds her a bit idealistic, but overall well-spoken and good to talk to. Padme finds Rex to be polite and more intelligent and awkward than he makes himself out to be.

Rex/Anakin: A rocky relationship in the beginning (they had a period where they didn’t speak save for work), but overall one that they find more comfort in after Ahsoka leaves and Rex loses Fives. Especially when Anakin starts being somewhat more considerate toward everyone else’s skills and lives in his battle plans.

Rex/Ahsoka: Becomes ride or die, they grow close and strong and their relationship barely suffers after having been separated for 20 years, they both feel protective over and so proud of the other, though the trust wasn’t immediately there, especially in the Rebels era, they trusted each other with so much.

Boil & Waxer/Numa: They liked the time they spent with her and miss her a lot. Boil sends a message to the Brils telling Numa that Waxer died. She was sad but keeps up a semi-regular correspondence with Boil after the fact. He appreciates it.

Cutup/Fives: The two liked each other well enough, and Cutup, at least outwardly, was willing to accept that Echo was Fives’ best friend.

Cody/Obi-Wan: A friendship is there, and while the two aren’t best friends and don’t trust each other with everything, both of them know that they don’t, so that makes it balanced. Obi-Wan is a good listening ear for Cody and Cody sometimes yells at his General to get some damn rest. They like having tea or stronger drinks together whenever time permits.

[swhurtcomfort]

Part 2/2 of this for the Anakin-whump anons!

Field surgery was never a best case scenario, Obi-Wan knew, but Kix had felt it would be dangerous to move Anakin more than necessary, and hyperspace was out of the question.

It sounded like the gist of it was that he’d broken his hip and a shard of bone had damaged the artery in his leg, which had bled significantly. In some ways the slowing of Anakin’s pulse from the hypothermia had probably helped him survive.

Obi-Wan had been waiting at the loading dock with Fives and Jesse when Cody’s rescue party returned. They had everything well in hand, and Obi-Wan felt rather useless jogging along behind the hoverstretcher.

Anakin appeared unconscious, but Obi-Wan thought he saw a flutter of his eyelids. Under Kix and Helix’s supervision, Obi-Wan and Rex eased Anakin’s shoulders out of his clothes, peeling sweat-soaked layers apart one by one. His trousers they cut away rather than try to move the leg. Someone handed Obi-Wan a heated blanket which he gently spread over the young knight. When he looked back at Anakin’s face, blue eyes were fixed on him.

“You’re going to be fine, Anakin,” Obi-Wan reassured him softly. Obi-Wan took one hand and held it while Helix slipped a needle into Anakin’s opposite arm. Obi-Wan would have felt better if there were someone here to put Anakin in a trance, but as things stood, drug-based anesthesia would have to do.

“I’ll see you soon, ok?” Obi-Wan murmured.

Anakin’s blue lips twisted into the tiniest of smiles. It only took a minute before his eyes slid shut again.

Obi-Wan gave Anakin’s hand a squeeze, then caught Helix’s eye and knew it was time for him to leave. It surprised him how easy it was to entrust his former padawan’s life to the two clones. He owed his own life to Helix at least two times over, and he knew Anakin’s faith in Kix was absolute. It wasn’t the best case scenario, but Obi-Wan left the medic’s station with a deep-rooted feeling of assurance.

Obi-Wan and Rex settled in to wait outside. Rex gave Obi-Wan a more detailed account of what had happened.

“…then he was quiet for a long, long while. Scared us half to death. Kix wouldn’t sit still. Then when the commander arrived and they lifted him out, he was in a bad way.” Rex shuddered. “You’re lucky you didn’t see him until after Kix had run a ton of warm fluids into him.”

Obi-Wan nodded as he accepted this information. “I suppose I am. But I can feel him. His presence is strong, even now while he’s unconscious.”

“The Force, sir?”

Obi-Wan nodded. “I sense he’ll recover quickly.”

They noticed Fives and the others had reconvened by the fireplace, looking morose. Obi-Wan noted with amusement that even Hardcase was among them, having somehow escaped Dogma’s supervision.

“They look like they could use some encouragement, General,” Rex pointed out tentatively.

“Perhaps you could offer them some,” said Obi-Wan, seeing Rex’s request for what it was. Rex nodded at this dismissal and rose to go speak with his men.

Obi-Wan was left alone at his post. He closed his eyes and attempted to meditate. It wasn’t too long before Kix beckoned him back inside.

There was some color in Anakin’s cheeks again. His leg was immobilized and wrapped in bacta gauze.

“Hi, Master,” said Anakin groggily, slipping back into using the old honorific that he’d outgrown not so long ago. Obi-Wan smiled.

“Hello, Anakin.” It came out like a whisper as he knelt by the cot. “I’m glad to see you’re doing—” Obi-Wan fell silent as he noticed Anakin had dozed off again.

Anakin drifted in and out for the next hour or so. When he was awake, he was either overjoyed to see Obi-Wan or giggling to himself (“Do you think Yoda is good at gardening, Master? He has green thumbs!”). Obi-Wan silently wondered if the clones had given him a little too much medication.

Obi-Wan thought that the loopy phase would be the worst of it, but he was wrong. When Anakin woke up properly there were tears in his eyes. He blinked them away, but Obi-Wan had seen.

“Oh, Anakin, does it hurt very badly?”

Anakin looked away and didn’t respond.

“I’ll ask if we can get you something for the pain,” said Obi-Wan starting to stand.

“No,” Anakin protested. Was that no, he didn’t want the medic, or no, he didn’t want Obi-Wan to walk away? Both?

His fingers twirled around the soft cotton of Obi-Wan’s sleeve, tugging to get him to sit back down. The gesture was so soft and unguarded that of course Obi-Wan obliged.

Anakin whimpered in pain, and Obi-Wan frowned.

“I’m getting Kix,” he said firmly. “I will be back before you know it.”

Obi-Wan was right, and Anakin settled down somewhat after a shot of painkillers. He was anxious to speak with his men, but since half the 501st was clamoring to see him, Kix thought it best that only Rex and Fives be allowed in. They kept their visit brief – Obi-Wan suddenly realized it was the middle of the night.

He briefly considered claiming a cot in the medic’s station for the night, but he was afraid that Anakin would take the gesture the wrong way. He could be so sensitive when he thought Obi-Wan wasn’t treating him like an adult—and he was an adult.

“See you tomorrow. Before my transport leaves?” asked Anakin.

“Absolutely. Sleep well, Anakin,” said Obi-Wan, giving his convalescent former padawan a parting pat on the arm.

It was laughable, really. Knowing Anakin, and knowing him, why had anyone thought they could pass the night like this?

Obi-Wan was jolted awake by a pang of distress filtering through their Force bond in the wee hours of the morning. He rolled off his sleeping mat and to his feet in a single fluid motion.

Anakin didn’t seem surprised when Obi-Wan swept back to the side of his cot.

“Are you alright, Padawan?”

“He-Helix says it’s fine,” said Anakin through chattering teeth. “I’m not crying, my eyes just won’t stop watering.”

He was shivering, though a glance at his monitors told Obi-Wan that his temperature was back to normal.

“You said Helix already checked you over?”

Anakin nodded. “Said it’s j-just a r-reaction. Still got some anesth-thetic in my system.” In addition to his jaw, his fingers were tremoring.

“Oh, Anakin.” He was sure now that the medics had given Anakin too high a dose. It was easy to do. Anakin’s abnormal midichlorian count meant his body processed things differently.

“It’s k-keeping me awake. You should go back to b-bed though.”

“I will stay until you fall asleep, unless you don’t want me to.”

Anakin looked up at him with what was clearly a silent plea.

Obi-Wan smiled.

He brushed Anakin’s hair away from his face and Anakin looked so relaxed that he continued the motion, stroking the former padawan’s hair. It reminded him of how readily Anakin had melted into his arms as a young boy, and how easy it had been to soothe him with gentle cuddles. A small part of Obi-Wan missed those days.

The tremors continued for over an hour, and it took nearly an hour after that for Anakin to fall back asleep. And then just because the Force was cruel, Helix had to wake him up to check his bandages. Morning was both a gift and a curse, for the awful night was over but Obi-Wan knew he had a full day of duties ahead.

Shortly after dawn the evac ship had arrived to take Anakin back to Coruscant.

“I’ll see you in two weeks, old man,” Anakin chuckled as they loaded him onto the ship.

“My credits are on at least four, and that’s if Che doesn’t ground you for trying to sneak out at two.”

“Very funny,” Anakin chortled. But as Obi-Wan withdrew, Anakin grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“Always, my very young former padawan.” Obi-Wan whispered back.