#the tooka's name is Os'ika

[dangraccoon]

It's Still You

Day 26 ~ nightmares ~

Tech x Phee

Word Count: 665 Content: PTSD, nightmare, brainwashing/mind control and the aftermath of it

Wind howled around him as he crouched on a rooftop. It chilled him down to the bone, but he ignored it, just as his conditioning required.

He could see the target through the reticle of his rifle’s scope. All he needed to do was shoot.

But then the target turned. He almost gasped as Phee Genoa smiled and laughed, unaware that her life was about to end.

“N-no,” he whispered, but his body moved without his permission, realigning the rifle, level with her head. 

“Please, please,” he begged. “D-d-don’t!”

His body inhaled, then exhaled. It held its breath, finger moving to rest lightly on the trigger.

As the plasma burst from the end of the barrel, he screamed.

“Tech, it’s okay,” Phee whispered, her hand lightly touching his arm.

He looked around frantically. He wasn’t on that freezing rooftop. Phee wasn’t even the target of that mission, she was sitting next to him here, in their bed. He was home on Pabu, his partner beside him, and their tooka blinking curiously at him from the end of the bed.

“It’s alright,” Phee cooed, hand drifting to rub soft circles against his shoulder.

Once his breathing started to equalize, Tech turned to face her but kept his eyes shut tight, as though it would push away the bloody images in his mind. “I-I’m–”

“Nothing’ to be sorry for,” she hummed with practiced ease, hands gently pulling at him, but not pressuring.

He relented, allowing himself to be pulled tightly against her chest.

“It was just a nightmare,” she said.

“No,” he breathed, hating the way his shaking voice caused her hands to go still. “It was mostly a… a memory.”

She didn’t answer but smiled softly and nodded in a quiet encouragement to continue.

“It was a mission to… I-I cannot remember the name of the moon,” he said, his body–having no trouble remembering the cold–shivering despite the comfortable temperature of their home. “I was sent as…” he trailed off, his voice cracking beneath the weight of his guilt.

“As an assassin?” Phee filled in, her voice soft, unaccusing.

Tech felt like something was clawing up through his throat as he pushed himself up and out of her arms. He needed to move. Staying still wasn’t an option–you move or you’re dead.

He growled slightly as he pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes.

“Tech,” Phee said, her eyes shifting from sympathy to concern. “Come back to bed.”

His hands pushed up, fingers running through the short patch of curls that were still growing in after his Empire-issue buzzcut.

“Whatever you dreamt,” Phee murmured, rising to meet him at the end of the bed, her hand caressing the side of his face. “It’s in the past. They forced you to do awful things–”

“How can you hold me like this?” he asked, no louder than a whisper for fear of the crackling of his voice. “I… I killed in cold blood with ruthless efficiency… no matter the location, the… the target. Phee, how can you… live with me when I cannot live with myself?”

She huffed a slight laugh. “Tech, I love you. This,” she said, gesturing to him. “Is how. After you fell, you were used by those monsters. I know you know that you couldn’t control it because I know you tried, I know you fought. And this… misplaced guilt? It shows me that despite everything you’ve been through, it’s still you right here.” One hand pressed against his chest as the other wrapped around the harsh metal cybernetics that covered the entirety of his spine.

He let her pull him back into their bed, allowing himself to exist in the moment. Her soft words and touches pulled him up to the surface of the deep, dark pool of the thoughts that threatened to drown him, eventually soothing him into a blessedly peaceful sleep.

“I love you, Tech” she whispered against his skin as she pressed a soft kiss to his temple.

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Thanks for reading! - River

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[adhd-coyote]

@whiskygoldwings you wanted to be tagged for oc infodumping? Well, I've finished organizing my 212th ocs, but there's a lot of 'em, so I'll just do the one's I have picrews for at the moment!

Tooka

He/Him

Naive but clever

A huge cuddlebug

Favorite type of candy is sour gummies

Secretly a little shit

Lives up to his name in curiosity

Pesky

Gender? What's that? Can he eat it? Mostly uses he/him pronouns out of convenience, but fine with anything

Gold and red wing tattoos stretching across his shoulders, with matching paint on the back of his armor. Plus a tramp stamp reading "Os'ika" (little shit in Mando'a) that he was "forced" to get after losing a bet

Excellent pilot

A mischievous little vent gremlin

Looks like vod'ika, but has ori'vod(/older cousin) energy

Most talented and creative prankster in his battalion, if not the whole GAR

Voted most likely to start a mutiny for fun

Rain

He/They

Medic

Rainstorm themed sleeve tattoo on his left arm

Quiet, gentle, a very soft voice

Honest but not blunt

The kind of medic that talks you through everything he’s doing and praises you when he’s done

They usually send him to deal with the shinies, especially right after their first battle

Chomps

He/Him

“Bite me” tattooed on the back of his left shoulder

Would bite a droid

Fangs painted on his helmet

“Nom nom, motherfucker”

His armor (mainly his vambraces, gauntlets, and pauldrons) is covered in teeth marks

Vent

They/Them

The 212th's other vent gremlin

Messes with Shinies by giggling in the vents and then scurrying away without a word

Likes puzzles, riddles, and the like

Always knows all of the gossip, and can be bribed if you know what to offer

Squirrel

He/They

Mechanic

Hyperactive

Somehow both a math gay and a driving gay

He go zoom, both in and out of a vehicle.

Kneecaps

He/Him

Always goes for the knees in a fight

You’d think this would make him predictable to fight, but nope. He just gets more creative with going for the knees.

Sunny exterior, but absolutely ruthless underneath

Drake

He/Him

Sniper

Right eye is a prosthetic

Snarky, levelheaded, and cynical

Absolutely feral on the battlefield

Acts like he doesn’t care but will not hesitate to verbally (or even physically) tear you apart if you are mean to/hurt one of his vode

Laugh is more like a cackle

Sharp grin and an even sharper scowl

Very observant; an amazing strategist

This is only about half of my 212th ocs; y'all will get to see the rest once I've either made picrews or drawn them <3