#someone i look up to no matter how tall i grow ( luke skywalker ; skysaunter )

[techniiciian]

@skysaunter sent:

in the half-light, a gloved hand drifted over the wall until a distinctive click split the silence.  light panels flickered to life overhead, one after the other, casting a warm, saturated glow that dispelled the shadows.  in the center of the spacious room was a bed that bore a rather conspicuous bulge.  the sight drew a raised eyebrow. luke’s frown deepened. how many rotations had passed? how much longer would matt continue to wallow in this self-imposed exile, seemingly content to let his days waste away?

❝matthew?❞  the soft murmur grew firmer as he approached the bed, yet the conspicuous bulge remained unmoved.  ❝matthew, it’s noon.❞  careful, insistent hands tugged at the duvet, stripping away the cocoon of childhood comforts his son had wrapped around himself.

there's a moment of struggle, of halfhearted tugging at the covers in an attempt to hide from wakefulness before finally a ruffled mop of blonde curls paired with a scrunched up, grumpy expression emerges from the bundled blankets being peeled from around him.

half awake, he casts his hazel gaze blearily up at luke, blinking slowly, taking in the light of the room, as his scowl softens into a pout. despite his cranky morning disposition, matt could never truly unleash his full annoyance at his papa, even when the man in front of him was the one waking him up.

"'m awake." a loud yawn followed by the drowsy blonde tucking half his face into the soft plush of his pillow, one eye still half opened. "'s comfy." another, louder, yawn is given before he sits up and gives a few slow blinks to the room.

with each blink the blissful escape of dreamland and the memory of whatever dream he'd been having seem to fade. which was a shame as matt vaguely recalls a stack of hotcakes holding the secrets to the universe. they probably wouldn't have tasted as good as his dad's anyway.

"morning, papa." there's another blink before his expression becomes more wakeful and he offers a small smile to his father. "or uh, noon...ing, papa. ha ha." matt gifts Luke's shoulder with an affectionate bump his head as yet another yawn leaves him. maybe, if he was lucky, he could catch another precious seconds of sleep right here.

[techniiciian]

the sky here is clear. so clear, in fact, that each star and planet cluster could be seen perfectly.

'night is beautiful on this planet.' the thought crosses matt’s mind as his gaze shifts from constellation to constellation, from star system to star system, until it finally lands on a familiar cluster of twinkling lights — home.

a small, wistful smile makes itself home on matt’s face; his softened stare lingering on that patch of precious sky. whoever said distance makes the heart grow fonder might have been telling the truth. fondness or not, all matt really felt was a desire to go back to his family.

there’s still weeks left of negotiations, of planning, of possible fighting, left to do on this planet. and with things going the way they had been, he wouldn't be making a return anytime soon. and with that thought a wave of unpleasant emotions start to bubble forth. matt rests his gaze on the twinkling of lights in the sky for a moment longer before closing his eyes.

'breathe in, breathe out. exhale the emotion into the force and clear your head.' the smooth echoing of his father's teachings help him clear his head and heart. repeating the mantra and actions till he's settled and centered again. yet loneliness clings like tar against his rib cage. a deep longing that he can’t shake despite how he tries to rid himself of it.

aware the heaviness of his isolation won’t truly fade until he’s back in the safe and secure embrace of his family, matt returns his stare at the sky. his concentration on the stars never falters as he pulls out his comm and flicks to his contacts as the familiar tones of connection fills the quiet surrounding him.

he doesn’t have to wait long before the comm is answered. the quickness of it making his lips twitch up only to stretch into a wide, lopsided smile.

— @skysaunter asked : why did you call me?

warmth bubbles in his chest causing a small huff of laughter to escape him. “hi, papa.” matt hopes his jovial greeting reassures his father, answering the unspoken worry lacing luke’s inquiry — i’m safe, papa, i’m okay. no need to worry. “just missed you ‘s all,” is his sheepish reply

[techniiciian]

📏 we've compared heights a thousand times but gimme the visual anyway. gimme vader + ani, matt, and han sandwiching luke (with love)

matt vc: we could be standing in order from tallest to shortest if SOME members of this family wouldn't bicker. looking at you gramps & dad! at least papa is the cutest we all gotta protect him, even though he could wipe the floor with all of us. . .

@skysaunter & @stillsolo

thank you for indulging me in my antics. i will never get over how tall everyone but luke is. i guess the tall gene really did skip a generation.

[techniiciian]

@stillsolo sent an ask:

technical machine character development meme.

( also tagging @skysaunter , they're both you but still lol )

bubble beam. what’s a fond memory your muse has from their childhood?

Matt was focusing very, very hard. with deep breathes, in and out in slow concentration, he politely asks force to help him find his papa. his brows furrow slightly as his thoughts drift to what his papa felt like in the force. Luke was warm, and safe, and comforting; a calm, patient presence that was ever watchful and ever caring of him, just like only the best of papa's could be.

clumsily, but oh so set on pinpointing where the man might be, Matt feels out around him in the force as if he's stretching out his hands, searching searching searching until he felt a brush of what could only be his papa's force signature against his the edges of his fingertips. a bright smile lights his features as excitement bubbles over in his chest. he knew where to look!

a jubilant call of, "ready or not, i'm gonna find you!" and he's off in a fit of giggles. eager feet carry Matt down the hallways, past rooms mostly empty, as he follows the guiding rope in the force leading him to where he was sure his papa was hiding. oh, he was going find his papa for sure this time, and faster than ever! then papa could take a turn finding him.

Matt slides to a halt when the feeling of Luke's force signature gets so strong he can almost reach out and grab him. only there's a door in a the way. reaching up Matt opens the door, peeking his head into the room intent on letting out a happy, "found you!" only to find that the room is empty. confusion floors him, leaving his brows knit together in baffled confusion. where was his papa?

this is where he felt papa. why wasn't he here? matt lets out a determined huff as he readies himself to get to the bottom of this new found mystery. he lookes around the oversized storage closet, checking behind the cabinets, even underneath a blanket on the floor, and in a last ditch effort matt even turns his attentions upward to make sure his papa wasn't hiding up on the ceiling ( it's a shame he's yet to notice the booted feet peaking out from behind the door, or the smiling face gazing fondly as his little son investigates. )

"papa?" curious and curiouser. but Matt wasn't going to give up! oh no, he's finding his papa if it's the last thing he does! closing his eyes once again, he takes the deep breathes papa taught him to do when they meditate together. he reaches out and searches the force, feeling for Luke. he's close, he knows it, he can feel it!

turning in a slow circle, Matt looks up and down, from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, and finally by the door - a wide happy squeal of laughter leaves him when he sees the soft smile of Luke's face peaking out from behind the door.

with arms outstretched matt runs forward, wrapping himself around his papa's legs to nuzzling his face aggressively into him. "FOUND YOU!" he declares with utter triumph, looking as pleased as a loth-cat who'd successfully hunted his prey.

'you did! good job, Matthew.' a gently pat to the head, and a warm hug follows the praise.

Matt beams up in delight, bouncing in place. "i found you! i searched with the force just like you taught me. i tried real, real hard." his eyes shine with joy, clearly oh so pleased with how his hard work had payed off. he reaches up to be held only to giggle with glee as his papa humors him and holds him close before rubbing his own cheek to Luke's.

there's more soft words and light praise from his papa that sends Matt's joy sky high ( even though they're already in space ) before matt is wiggling out of Luke's safe grip.

"it's my turn to hide now! find me fast, okay, papa? but not too fast." Matt gets one last hug in along with a happy "i love you, papa" before he runs off to find a perfect hiding place.

and while he's never been the best at hiding during these games with his papa ( perhaps because of the barely quieted giggling when his papa started to get too close, or more likely because of said giggling often causing him to forget to conceal his excited thoughts leaving them all but declaring his location as loud as a shot out into the force. ) Matt's always does his best to stay hidden and do just as he was taught to do in these little games: stay quiet and try to keep all his excitement quiet too. though sometimes, like right now, he couldn't help but put his hands over his mouth as a laughter started to spill out as he heard his papa looking for him.

despite that, he was getting better and better with each and every game of hide and seek they played.

[techniiciian]

another fun fact about the imperial / sith verse is that Matt is force sensitive & happens to be apprenticing under the galactic emperor ( and his favorite gradnfather ) anakin / darth vader ( ft. training from his darling papa luke )

[techniiciian]

tag dump

for my family and our empire ( skysaunter & stillsolo ; imperial sith verse )

every wound shaped him ; every scar built his throne ( anakin skywalker / darth vader ; skysaunter )

someone i look up to no matter how tall i grow ( luke skywalker ; skysaunter )

you place me on your shoulders so i can grab the stars ( han solo ; stillsolo )

[techniiciian]

hazel eyes follow wearily after his father’s form. he almost wants to ask what day it is - the days seem to muddle together - but refrains from doing so. brows furrow in thought as matt tries to recall the past month? months? year? but that train of thought doesn't last long. the mention of having just missed seeing han, of being missed by him, all but sends a wave of ice water washing over him.

surely it shows on his face. the happy, groggy smile he wears falls into embarrassed shame. when was the last time he saw his dad or spent time with him? and now he’s left to wait longer seeing as the man just took off. not that matt blames his old man, he knows the fault lay with himself.

guilt swells in his chest causing him to fall back on the bed, an arm tossed over his eyes in an attempt to block the frustrated tears that well up, blurring his already blurred vision. matt means to sound apologetic, to speak clear and even, but his words tremble with sorrowful frustration. “i miss him too. 'm sorry i didn't see him off.”

a shaky exhale, a sniffle, a quick wipe of his eyes — a move that matt is well aware his father’s ever attentive gaze won’t miss — and he is up again. he shuffles out of bed in search of a shirt and finds one nearby, but as he tugs it on with more force an necessary he pauses. his fingers latch around the hem in a white knuckle grip as his shoulders slump forward. his head bows for a moment only to lift just slightly as sad hazel eyes flicker to his papa.

“... pa, do you uh,” he looks away now, the lump in his throat make the words hard to get out. there's another shaky exhale before he takes a careful step in luke's direction, then another, and soon matt stands in front of his father. his body nearly doubled over — a comical sight if it the mood in the room wasn't so melancholy — as he rests his forehead on the smaller man’s shoulder. even as tall as he was, matt felt so very incredibly small. “do you —"

a loud, disruptive growl of displeasure from his stomach cuts him off from what should have been the beginning moment of a heart to heart. with a watery laugh matt pulls away to cast a quick, annoyed glance to his stomach. embarrassment tinges his ears and checks a bright pink. “guess ‘m hungry. ha ha.” when was the last time he ate more than just a ration bar?

sheepishly, matt runs a hand over the back of his neck. the awkward smile gracing his features doesn’t quite reach his eyes. with no small amount of hope he makes a simple query, “could we... could we eat lunch together? if you’re not too busy?”

              𝙰𝚂  𝙷𝙸𝚂  𝚂𝙾𝙽  𝚂𝚃𝙸𝚁𝚁𝙴𝙳  𝙰𝚆𝙰𝙺𝙴 , eventually sitting up in bed with that same sleepy, slightly grumpy look he had worn as a child, luke felt a pang of bittersweet pride.  but the warmth of the moment could only do so much to ease his mind.  for over a year now, matt had been… different.   the vibrant, sociable boy he once knew had turned inward, retreating into himself and becoming withdrawn, almost detached from the people around him.  he no longer engaged with the world, not with the same ease or enthusiasm, and the subsequent isolation was almost suffocating.

the shift had come shortly after matt accepted his likely destiny—a fate that would one day place him as ruler of the empire.

vader had insisted it was a matter of inexperience, attributing matt’s withdrawal as a natural reaction to his sudden responsibility, and argued that his ‘sheltered’ upbringing — normal, at least for a prince of the empire — had left him ill-prepared for what came next: the crushing weight of command, the alienation that came with ruling.

luke hadn’t raised his son with an eye toward the empire, hadn’t prepared him for the weight of such an inheritance…  perhaps his father was right.  perhaps the weight of those responsibilities had been too much for a young man who had never asked for such a fate, and still had his entire life ahead of him.  but that explanation felt too simple, too easy.  luke could sense there was something more at play, something he couldn’t yet see.

                ❝good morning.❞  the blond’s voice was unassuming, but his smile was thin—placid—and his stomach knotted with unease as he reached out to cradle his son’s pillow-indented cheek.  turning swiftly, luke crossed the room and tapped the room’s controls.  the curtains slid apart, and a holographic projection flickered to life, displaying the sunlit sprawl of coronet city, a vista far removed from coruscant’s towering spires.    maybe that was for the best.

❝you missed your father this morning,❞ luke said, keeping his tone light, uncritical.  ❝he left after refueling the ’falcon.❞  was matt awake enough to even understand?  ❝he wanted you to know he misses you.❞