#neyo will not use any of this as blackmail

[hastalavistabyebye]

Holos #2

Ao3 version

Neyo yawned loudly. Like every time, he despised the morning’s early hours for depriving him of caff. 

He was grateful to Generals Stass Allie and Ki-Adi Mundi for organizing those joined leave breaks, when their battalions could meet on some deserted planet close enough from each other's positions. 

But land installments meant no personal caff machine. And the commissary wouldn't start serving breakfast until a few hours still. 

What wouldn't he sacrifice to see his ori’vod a handful of times more often ?

At least, it wasn't cold this morning. He wouldn't freeze in just his blacks. Neyo breathed out one last sight before putting on his boots and leaving his tent.

It didn't take him long to find Bacara. There really was only one place he could be this early. Neyo walked silently to the large tree his ori’vod had chosen for the day. Once seated next to him, the younger man flashed a few battle signs. No talking permitted at this time. 

“Sitrep ?”

“Clicking sound. Hear ? Lau bird.”

Neyo snatched his comm to check what this little fucker looked like. He didn't know a bird could imitate the sound of weak plastoid snapping so well. Right when he was checking the holonet for answers, a pointy elbow poked into his ribs. He looked back up with a scowl, ready to tell his brother where he could shove his elbow already, but was stopped by Bacara signing “Look !” while pointing in the direction of the canopy above their heads. 

A tiny, colorful bird flew gracefully in front of them. The blue wings catched the slowly rising sunlight in a rainbow of cheerful shades. It executed a few circles, each time smaller, before settling down on a bright green leaf the size of Neyo’s thigh. 

He could accept that this specimen was quite pretty. 

At his side, Bacara raised his own comm slowly, as to not frighten the bird, and took a holo.

That was new. 

The victorious and thrilled look on his ori’vod’s face kept Neyo from saying anything. It was their peaceful time after all, it would be a shame to break the quiet tranquility surrounding them so soon. 

He watched the little bird make its clicking sounds a few times before flying away again, comfortably settled, shoulder to shoulder with his ori’vod. 

–

A tenday later, the entire 91st Mobile Corps was knees deep into some sticky, foggy bog of nightmare. The mud was infiltrating absolutely everywhere. Neyo was damp, cold and all in all not having a good time.

So, when during a lunch break Ponds started smiling softly at his comm, it was deeply suspicious. Neyo leaned in his direction a little bit to check what was making his vod look like that. He got a glimpse of a holo of some pretty bird that definitely wasn’t native to this horror of a planet. It looked more like a desertic species, the like that could be found where Bacara was currently deployed. 

So that was what those holos were for, huh. 

@rooksunday thank you for the bird watcher Bacara headcanon :D I love it !

[eyayah-oya]

Return to Me

Clone Ship Week | Day 6 | Post-Battle - @cloneshipweek

Cody/Rex

Rating: G

Warnings: mentions of Point Rain, canon typical violence, disgustingly cute happy ending

Ao3 link

           Geonosis was just as awful as every vod had ever described. It was hot and dusty, of course, but Cody didn’t really care about any of that.  It was the number of brothers he’d lost on the way to Point Rain, the hundreds more killed by the bugs and their weaponry, on top of all the droids that seemed to come in never-ending waves.

           Cody and the rest of the 212th were going to join General Mundi and the 21st Nova Marine Corps on the other side of the planet while Rex and his men worked with Gree and the 41st under General Unduli.  They would be taking on the enormous droid factory the next day, and Cody would not be able to help any of them.  He would have his own mission to run.

           There were hundreds of vod’e all over the fortified base they’d managed to find and set up camp in.  Brothers from all four battalions mingled and shared increasingly exaggerated stories.  Cody had spotted Corporals Fives and Echo talking to some boys from the 21st, and he’d seen the medics fussing over the injured vod’e and generals.  But there was no sign of Cody’s cyare.

           “Lieutenant!” Cody called to 2nd Lieutenant Jesse of the 501st.

           Jesse snapped off a sharp salute.  “Sir!”

           “At ease, Lt.  Have you seen Rex around recently?” Cody asked.

           Thinking for a moment, Jesse slowly nodded.  “I think I saw him over by the remaining gunships, sir. He was talking to General Skywalker about half an hour ago.”

           Cody nodded and clapped the trooper on his shoulder. “Thanks.  Make sure you take some time to rest, Lt.  We’re in for a rough campaign.”

           “Of course, sir.  You do the same and see if you can get Rex to sleep, too.”

           As Cody walked away, he chuckled to himself.  Little brothers were getting uppity.  At the start of the war, there was no way any trooper, let alone one from a different battalion, would have talked to him so casually.  It was a testament to how well the men of the 501st were relaxing around their Jedi and learning how to be something besides soldiers.  It was nice.

           Cody prayed to whatever gods watched over clones bred for war that Rex hadn’t gone back up to the Resolute already.  He needed to see Rex and make sure his cyare was alright. Too many vod’e were walking wounded, and even more were severely injured or dead.  As much as he knew it was a real possibility, Cody did not want to ever consider a reality where Rex marched on ahead of him.

           “Hey, Commander!” Commander Tano chirped from out of nowhere.  She smiled up at him with bright eyes that hadn’t been weighed down by war yet.  She still had hope and Cody prayed that she would never lose that.  Yet another thing he prayed for to unknown gods.

           “Hello, Commander.”  Cody dodged a pair of vod’e carrying a crate full of supplies and glanced down at Commander Tano.  “Can I help you with something?”

           “Jesse said you’re looking for Rex?  I know where he is!  But we have to hurry before my Master pulls him away again.”

           If Commander Tano was willing to help him find Rex, Cody was definitely not going to say no.  Especially after the massacre they’d just faced.  “Thank you, Commander,” he said, warm affection warming his chest briefly. “I appreciate it.”

           Commander Tano waved away his thanks.  “It’s no problem.  I get it.  Master Skywalker practically ran to Master Kenobi’s side as soon as we got here, and I know Jesse went to go find a batchmate of his from the 41st. Sometimes, you just need to make sure everyone’s alive.”

           “That is very wise, Commander,” Cody said.  He really shouldn’t be surprised, but in his mind, the Commander was just so young.  She shouldn’t have insights into how war worked, and why they needed time to recuperate after a bad battle, if only to reassure themselves that their loved ones made it out alive or to mourn the ones that hadn’t.

           There were far too many mourning vod’e.

           “I have a great teacher,” Commander Tano said with a warm smile.  “Rex said you taught him a lot of what he knows and he’s been passing some of that down to me.  It’s helped me in some tough situations, so I should be thanking you, Commander.”

           “No thanks necessary, Commander,” Cody managed to say without choking or giving away his emotions.  Not that it probably mattered since Jedi were attuned to the people around them.  Only General Kenobi had ever thanked him for anything, and Cody was convinced that his General would thank Ventress after she stabbed him with her saber.  Karking di’kutla jetti.

           “Anyway, Rex is over in that tent, hopefully taking a nap. Coric was threatening him earlier with sedation, so he might have followed through on that threat.”

           And with that, Commander Tano skipped away, most likely to terrorize some poor shiny who wouldn’t know how to deal with an overly friendly shiny Jedi Commander. Cody privately wished he had a holo of their flailing.  It would provide some good laughs in the future.

           Cody strode over to the tent Commander Tano had pointed out, and knocked on the frame.

           “Come in,” Rex called and something inside of Cody’s chest loosened.

           He undid the fastenings and stepped inside, taking his bucket off immediately.  Rex was sitting on the cot, a datapad in his hands, likely going over the initial casualty reports for the battle.  Most importantly, he was very much alive.

           “Rex,” Cody gasped out with a strangled breath.

           Rex jerked at his voice and then a second later, Cody had his arms wrapped around his cyare, breathing him in as he held on as tight as he could.

           “Cody!  You’re okay!” Rex said.  He pulled back to give Cody a sharp look.  “You are okay, right?”

           “Yes, I am.  I didn’t end up getting injured.  That was purely my General,” Cody said, trying for some dry humor but it fell flat in the face of their combined relief.  “What about you?  I heard you got thrown off a wall?”

           “Karking Fives and Echo,” Rex growled.  “General Skywalker and Ahsoka caught me, so I wasn’t hurt.  Nothing beyond a few bumps and bruises.”

           Cody ran his eyes over Rex’s body, as though that would tell him if Rex was hiding any injuries with the armor in the way.  Once he verified that there wasn’t any gaping hole or crack in Rex’s armor, Cody dropped his helmet to the ground and pulled Rex into a bruising kiss.  His cyare responded eagerly, clinging desperately to the hard, sharp planes of Cody’s armor.  There was no finesse, no sweetness in the kiss.  Just pure, heady relief and a desperation to prove that they really survived.

           Rex gripped Cody’s hair tightly with one hand, the other wrapping around his waist to pull him as close as their armor would allow. He sucked on Cody’s bottom lip and gently nibbled before letting go and pressing his head against Cody’s in a soft keldabe.

           “I was so worried when we heard that most of your gunships went down, including General Kenobi’s.  You’re usually flying with him.”

           “We decided to split our forces.  It was a really close call a few times, but we made it.  We both made it,” Cody answered.  He was shaking from relief at having Rex in his arms, alive and unharmed.  Nothing would ever be able to beat that heady feeling of overwhelming gratitude to whatever gods were listening.  They’d listened to at least one of his prayers today.

           “Stay alive tomorrow,” Cody demanded after a moment of just breathing each other in.  “That factory is going to be really dangerous.”

           “I know.  Gree is a solid vod, though.  He’ll have my back and I’ll have his.  Plus, we have the Jedi to help keep us safe.”

           Cody very carefully didn’t think about the many times General Skywalker had gotten men killed by doing something reckless or stupid. The R2 droid was not important enough to sacrifice his padawan, Rex, and three other men to General Grievous.  Out of four, only Rex and Denal had made it back, and Commander Tano had nearly been killed by Grievous when she kept Grievous from killing Rex, all for a droid.  Cody was skeptical, but he also had faith in Commander Tano and General Unduli and her padawan.  They’d protect the men while Skywalker handled whatever crazy idea he had.

           “We will be safe,” Rex said, giving Cody a shake. “While you’re off with the Marines, you should talk to Bacara.  They’re out of contact with most of the GAR.  Only Neyo and Jet can get through the blockades to deliver supplies and intelligence to Nova.”

           A frown carved the worry lines on his face deeper as Cody absorbed that information.  “I’ll talk to him.  See what we can do,” Cody swore.

           Rex nodded.  “Good.  He’ll keep you alive.  Bacara already told me he’s planning on sharing all of my embarrassing ARC training stories to you while you’re on campaign together.”

           Cody grinned.  “I’ve been trying to pull those out of Neyo, Keeli, Thorn, and Thire for ages now.  And Bacara’s the one to spill the beans?”

           Rex grumbled and buried his face against the crook of Cody’s neck.  “He said I don’t have enough blackmail material on him to keep him from blabbing. He also said I don’t scare him because, and I quote, “I’m as terrifying as a sleepy baby nexu cub buried in a pile of nip”.”

           “That—is strangely accurate,” Cody choked out, laughing at Rex’s offended growl.  “You’re a little prickly, but everyone knows you’re just a softy.  I mean, you’ve been teaching Commander Tano what I taught you?”

           His cyare shrugged.  “She’s in the middle of a war, and she doesn’t have the training we do. I don’t want to see her die when I could have prevented it.  Nor do I want to see my vod’e die because she makes a bad decision.  I’m giving her all the tools she’ll need to be successful and survive this war.”

           “You’ve adopted her.”  Cody couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before.  Rex had always loved with all his heart, as evidenced by the numerous vod’e who loved him unconditionally.  Of course, Commander Tano would have made the list.  “If she’s yours, then she’s mine, too,” Cody said. “We’re in this together.”

           Rex finally peeked his head back out from where he’d hidden it against the small sliver of skin on Cody’s neck.  “Really?”

           Cody didn’t hesitate.  He nodded and bumped their foreheads together.  “I promise.”

           For the first time since their first kiss, Cody had the amazing opportunity to see Rex completely and totally flustered.  He blushed bright red, sputtering and coughing as he tried to find something to say.

           It took a few minutes for Rex to completely compose himself and then it was Cody’s turn to be flustered.  “Are you asking me to be your riduur?”

           “What?” Cody spluttered.

           For a second, Rex faltered.  But then he squared his jaw and firmed his spine as if he was facing the worst of odds in a battle.  “We are one when together.  We already do that, and have done that since we were cadets.  We are one when apart.  At this point, I don’t think there’s anything that could separate us, even when we’re fighting on opposite ends of the galaxy.  We share all.  We tell each other everything.  You said it yourself.  What’s mine is yours, too.  We will raise warriors.  We are raising Ahsoka together, since we share all.  Not to mention all of our men that we’ve both trained since this war started. If that doesn’t count, I don’t know what would.

           “So, are you asking me to be your riduur?”

           As Rex laid out each point, Cody found himself agreeing. He and Rex were already married, they just hadn’t said the vows to each other yet.  And honestly, there wasn’t a better time than now.  Cody would rather be married to the love of his life for a few hours, then never have married him and watched him die in battle.

           “Yes, Rex of Torrent.  I am asking you to be my riduur,” Cody said, determination in every cell of his body.

           Rex lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Cody, bringing their foreheads together.  “Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar’tome, mhi me’dinui an, mhi ba’juri verde,” Rex swore fervently, his whole heart bared for Cody to see.

           “Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar’tome, mhi me’dinui an, mhi ba’juri verde,” Cody echoed the vow, offering Rex his heart with every breath.

           They shared the same space for a moment, pressing into the keldabe more firmly before their lips brushed together.  Like a firework had been set off in his bones, Cody tugged Rex into a passionate, over-whelming kiss that stole their breath away.  He could feel his heart swelling with the amount of love he felt for Rex, bursting out from behind the dam he kept on his emotions most days.  It rolled over him until the only thing he could think of was that Rex was alive, in his arms, and that they were now married.  What more could Cody care for in that moment?

           Eventually, air became a necessity, and they broke away from each other to breathe.  Rex gave a soft chuckle.  “You do realize that means you’re going to have to adopt Ahsoka, too, right?”

           “YES!  I get two dads AND Cody has to call me by my name now!”

           “Shh, they can hear you, Soka.”

           “Oops!  Everyone scatter!”

           Cody laughed.  His heart couldn’t contain the joy he felt, and he would carry that joy throughout the war as a hopeful flame for when they could all have peace again. But in that moment, he had all night with his riduur, and Cody planned on making the most of it.

[thefoundationproject]

Hii it's the anon again! Honoured that my word vomit could inspire something so wonderful!

I love the touch of what I'm guessing is Guinea Pig! Domino Twins and Tooka!Jesse witnessing the convo. Neyo snuggling with the Domino twins is adorable. Jesse collecting blackmail probs (Uhm getting the Bacara and Rex origin story? Human Jesse would never dream to be this lucky!). Someone else is probably trying to figure out how to decursify them, probably (Is it Kix? Or dear god Hardcase?!?) Neyo and Rex bonding the Neyo Way™️. Love to see it. Neyo used to be so terrible at socialising, but look at him now! Making CT friends left and right! They'll study his methods in sociology class I bet ya! He should teach.

Bacara and Rex having physical contact after so long apart is just amazing and heartbreaking. Bacara knowing goodbye is coming but he's leaving in such a good place compared to how he left, in all aspects, so it's best case scenario considering.

The fact that you got so much character development out of my braimworm is just !!!! Bacara the baby bean feeling guilty that Rex didn't tell his brothers. The line about how close he knows Rex is with the Shebse and not being able to see any other reason as to why he would hide it. Him thinking of Neyo as "people who are important to Bacara". Bacara knowing by the end of ARC training that Rex was it for him. Love all of it.

Also love how insightful Neyo is about other people's relationships yet watch him when he gets his own Sexy Sidearm. Though here it fits because Neyo knows what it's like to be alone and having/wanting to prove yourself on your own (ouch why did I hurt myself like that), so he saw Rex's reasoning. Him and Rex have some similarities in the needing to prove themselves regard that I've noticed over time.

Pointing out all the Shebse had something to prove because of 17 organising ARC training hadn't even crossed my mind, but so true! Though this brings into question if a certain Alpha-17 should be the first recipient of the 'who knew Rex'ika had a boyfriend and didn't tell Ponds' interrigation call.

Writing is amazing as always espescially when it involves Rex/Bacara, Neyo and Healthy Adult Communication. Inject it.

Thank you!!

Hello again! The idea had been a wee bit of an idea, but after your comment it went suddenly off the rails!

The guinea pig!Domino Twins jokeis one I’ve wanted to make for a long time (they were originally hamsters, and then fancy rats, before they were guinea pigs) and Neyo rolled in and presented the best possible reasoning. Are these truly Torrent ARCs shapeshifted? Has he ARC-napped Rex’s ARCs and is pretending some fluffy critters he’s borrowed from someone are them? Is that lettuce he sharpied ‘cursed’ actually cursed? The galaxy may never know. (If someone is working to decursify them, it’s probably a joint Hardcase-Anakin-Kix adventure. And boy wouldn’t that be a hecking adventure!!!!)

Rex is getting a crash-course in how to be mine-d by Neyo. Very different from his past experience being mine-d by Ponds and Cody (and Bly and Wolffe, but I’d love to see someone accuse them of being as mine-y as Ponds. Even if Wolffe totally raised Rex. (Ponds helped.)) Neyo’s bonding techniques are a wonder of the modern world. They should study his methods to try to see at what point they start to make any sense.

Bacara and Rex have a romance in the small things and I love it so much. It’s not really in the grand gestures, more in the little moments. The quiet touches, leaning against one another, little private smiles. And the important thing is that ‘knowing goodbye is coming’ doesn’t stop them from enjoying the now. They won’t let what-ifs control the present and that’s definitely something I admire. And Bacara! Being so cautious with his heart but falling fast and hard anyway, and Rex falling just as quickly just ah. I love them. (Also Neyo is definitely Bacara’s people, no argument at all).

Neyo’s incredibly observant! Just … he’s also Vode and vode have some certain genetic predispositions to flailing, romantic shenanigans and some shades of obliviousness. So Neyo is incredibly observant about others, and because I have A Brand he’s also very much going to be flailing along in his own relationship development because I find the Dramatique hilarious.

(Neyo probably knew every single possible detail about Rex before the end of that first tenday. Here was this little CT kid, running with the CCs. And what’s more, running with the best of them (not that Neyo is bragging (he’s absolutely bragging).) This little CT who clocked Bacara as interesting nearly instantly, who started following after him with heart-eyes and wriggling his way into Bacara’s orbit … yeah, Neyo darn well learned everything about this guy immediately. Bacara deserves something genuine and Neyo just … had to make sure. He probably did see a lot of himself in that guy too.)

The Shebse’s Alpha is considered good enough to have his own elite training course. That means he’s at a certain level, and I’m sure there was the unspoken expectation that the Shebse would reflect that. So yeah, they would have thrown everything into ARC training, even if they didn’t have to. They all ended up in incredibly vital positions: they’re clearly excellent at their specialties. But it’s the principle of the thing.

(17 and Ponds I’m sure have many incredibly amusing conversations. I feel like Ponds might be the one who talks to 17 the most, given he has the most regular schedule of them all.)

Thank you very much! I’m prescribing HAC for everyone and then having to fill the prescriptions too but you know, that’s life sometimes.

Thank you!!!