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Chapter Text

Tech saw his first living-breathing felinoid during the Batch’s third mission; the tawny-colored tooka had slept on top of a large flashing sign without a care in the galaxy. One of the tooka's earcones twitched when Tech landed next to it, one beady little eye opening for a second. It had given a cursory hiss at Tech but otherwise didn’t move a muscle when Tech had carefully scooted closer to the wall.

Something in the tooka's lazy disinterest stirred Tech's mind, a vague recognition. But before he could give it a further thought, Tech's comm crackled to life and Hunter demanded an update on his position. With one hand poised on his helmet-comm, Tech leaped off the sign without a hesitation.

It was only when they were on their way back to Kamino and Tech's eyes fell on the napping Crosshair, who was hanging half out of the gunner's nest, that he identified the sensation of familiarity the tooka had provoked in him.

Stepping closer, Tech decided to conduct a test.

He ran his fingers through Crosshair's hair, watching the sniper push into the touch while stretching himself lazily before slumping down with a sigh. 

"Interesting," Tech murmured, accessing his database to cross-check all the information he had on felinoids and their behavior.

One of Crosshair's eyes opened a fraction, peering up at Tech. "What?"

Tech fiddled with his recorder, bringing forth the recording of the tooka to match it with the material he had on Crosshair. "I witnessed a sleeping tooka during the mission and it seems I was subconsciously reminded of you," Tech explained calmly as he kept running his fingers through the pale curls. "Just like you, it had chosen a highly inconvenient place to rest while showing levels of aloofness only certain top predators display. When I compare the behavioural habits of tookas to some of yours, it’s a simple deduction that several of your habits mirror those of a felinoid.”

Crosshair partially opened his other eye to give Tech an amused look. "Are you calling me a tooka?" he asked.

"No. Unless that's something you'd like?"

Tech watched Crosshair stretch his long limbs before he dropped out of the gunner's nest and yes, Crosshair landed on his feet. 

Standing in front of Tech, Crosshair smirked lazily. "I don't know, I've always considered myself more of a nexu," the sniper drawled as he bent closer, eyes flashing dangerously.

Tech was already reaching for his datapad to conduct some more scientific comparison about tookas and nexus, when Crosshair gently but firmly grabbed his chin.

The kiss Crosshair gave him started as gentle, leaving Tech breathless as heat spread through him. 

A quick, unexpected nip of his bottom lip made Tech gasp, and just like the predator Crosshair to which had likened himself, the sniper pounced. He licked into Tech's mouth, the gentleness changing into hungry eagerness that left Tech completely at Crosshair's mercy.

For a second Tech remembered one particular piece of information he had read from one of the articles:

"Nearly all tookas were witnessed to play with their food before devouring it. This kind of behaviour is deeply rooted in their evolutionary history as hunters, but sometimes they do it just for fun."

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Rex stared at the bonfire with half-lidded eyes, feeling warm and relaxed for the first time in weeks. Warmth radiated from the fire in front of him and from Tup behind him as Rex half-leaned, half-laid against the younger clone. Their upper armor was stacked in two neat piles on the ground next to them and Tup's armor-free arms were wrapped around Rex, holding him close. Rex listened with half an ear to the conversation between Tup and Kix, smiling fondly at how Tup kept rubbing Rex's stomach back and forth with his thumb while he talked to the medic.

Sighing, Rex tilted his head back to rest it on the strong shoulder, only to end up near melting when Tup paused to brush his lips against Rex's temple. The soft act of affection made Rex feel a little fuzzy and floaty. 

Looking up, Rex was given the view of Tup's chin, partially hidden in the shadows, partially glowing from the fire. He watched how the border between the two shifted on a certain spot on Tup's jaw, moving back and forth every time he said something.

It didn't take much for Rex to stretch up and place a kiss on that very place. The light stubble he felt rasped against Rex's dry lips, the sensation leaving them tingling, and he smiled when his love acknowledged him by subtly angling his head to give Rex more space.

Rex was many things, but he wasn't a fool (not often at least), so he wasn't going to let the gift Tup had given him go to waste, already leaving another kiss on Tup's jaw. 

Chapter Text

"This is going to end up badly, I just know it," Thire groaned.

"Trust me, he'll do it," Thorn promised cheerfully. 

The expression on Thire's face was three parts suspicion and one part amusement.

Not that it mattered. What mattered was the fact that Thire was wrong.

And Thorn was about to prove it, because at that very moment, Fox entered the control room with Topspin and Twin Twist right behind him. For once, Fox was without his helmet, but that worked for Thorn since he was holding it under his arm.

"Watch," Thorn told his fellow Commander, whose eyes widened hilariously when he realised what was about to happen.

"Thorn - no!" Thire hissed, but Thorn was already up and running.

"Fox!" Thorn yelled, catching his lover's attention.

Fox must've seen something on his face (okay, Thorn admitted that his grin was a little unhinged at the moment) because the second their eyes met, he became alert like a hound that had caught the smell of its prey.

"What? Is something wro - what the kark!?"

Thorn didn't stop running until he was right in front of Fox.

Instead, he jumped in the air with a yell of "Catch me!"

Fox's bucket hit the ground with a clatter when he let go of it to do just that, swearing loudly and colorfully. Cackling wildly, Thorn heard more than felt Fox's arms wrap around him, the sound of plastoid smacking into plastoid loud in his ears. Fox stumbled back a step or two at the sudden weight but his hold was secure, arms shifting unconsciously into a better position to keep Thorn aloft.

In the silence that had fallen into the control room, every single trooper was left gobsmacked at what they had just witnessed, except Thire, whose groan of embarrassment was hilariously loud even with his face buried into his hands.

"I told you!" Thorn crowed, gleeful. "I told you that he'd catch me!"

Thire let out a muffled scream. "You're a karking gremlin, that's what you are."

He turned to look at Fox, ignoring the thunderous glare the other clone gave him. "Thank you for your help, love," Thorn thanked and bent down to smack a kiss on those pouting lips.

The indignant hiss Fox made had Thorn laughing and he didn't stop even when Fox let go of him.

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Hunter waited until Echo had landed The Marauder before getting up from the chair. "I don't want to see a single nerf nugget for two months after today," he muttered, stretching his arms high above his head.

Next to him, Echo chuckled as he ran through the landing checklist. "Don't tell that to Wrecker. He'll stage a mutiny."

Stepping down The Marauder's ramp, Hunter couldn't help but smile when he saw Tech waiting for them at the edge of the landing bay. The delivery hadn't taken that long, but Hunter felt more at ease when he could physically see everyone outside a mission.

(If his heart twinged painfully when there was no sight of the tall, lanky body that normally followed Tech like a surly shadow, it was nobody's business but Hunter's.)

"I take it your mission was satisfactory," Tech said once Hunter was close enough, the keen eyes scanning him, looking for any new marks on him or his armor.

"It was quite easy compared to some of the other things we've delivered," Hunter replied with a snort as he closed the distance between them. He placed his hands on the other clone's hips, waiting for Tech to finish.

Satisfied with what he'd seen (or not), Tech used his thumb and forefinger to tilt Hunter's chin up. "Welcome back," Tech murmured.

"It's good to be back," Hunter replied, feeling warmth bloom inside him when Tech bent down to kiss him. Hunter could've purred when everything that was Tech filled his senses.

There was a hint of caf and something spicy from Tech's lips, and Hunter wondered if Tech had tried something new from the vendor down the street, while his nose caught the familiar scent of oil, tibanna, and sweat.

The contact was brief as all their kisses were when they were in public.

It didn't matter, Hunter mused as they separated. There would always be time to kiss properly later.

"So what happened while we were gone?" he inquired as he and Tech walked side-by-side toward Sid's bar.

"Nothing special," Tech replied as he adjusted his goggles. "We took a short trip to Safa Toma in Serolonis. I won a racing competition for Sid to save her from a former business associate. It was quite stimulating."

"... Do I want to know?" Hunter asked after a moment of silence.

"Most likely not," Tech said matter-of-factly. "But I can show you the recording of the race later tonight."

Hunter glanced at Tech, seeing the gleam in his eyes that revealed just how much he wanted to do that.

"Only if I get to kiss the winner after that," Hunter replied with a small smirk.

"But you can always kiss me?" Tech asked, a little confused.

Chuckling, Hunter wrapped an arm around Tech's waist, pulling him close. "I know, Tech. I know."

Chapter Text

With a grimace, Keeli carefully pulled off his left glove in order not to aggravate the wound. He still hissed as the blood-covered material ripped painfully off, having dried and stuck itself against Keeli's palm. He stared at the abrasion that started at the base of his little finger, and ran neatly down toward his wrist. The red edges had tiny pieces of lint stuck to them but a closer look revealed that the wound itself was relatively clean.

The glove removal had caused the wound to start oozing a little but not worryingly so.

Good. It meant that Keeli could take care of this himself.

Dropping the ruined glove onto the bunk, Keeli kept his hand elevated as he pulled out the small first aid kit from his backpack. He had just taken out the disinfectant spray when the door slid open.

Looking up, Keeli saw Howzer step inside. The other Captain started to nod as a greeting but stopped when he spotted Keeli's hand.

"What happened?" Howzer asked, placing his helmet on the top bunk opposite Keeli's bunk bed. He wasted no time sitting down, facing Keeli as he reached out to take hold of his hand.

Keeli huffed as he let Howzer do that. "A minor rappelling accident during training. I ended up sliding down the cliff side and chafed my hand against the rock before I managed to stop."

Frowning, Howzer plucked the spray out of Keeli's other hand and used it on the abrasion. He frowned harder when Keeli hissed a little because the disinfectant stung.

"And how did that happen?" Howzer asked, serious.

"I’m uncertain, but I didn't feel like climbing back up to find out. I ordered Solmu to examine all the equipment just in case. Knowing him, after today, he’ll check them twice."

Humming, Howzer nodded as he put the spray away, then picked up a wipe to clean away the lint. He used the spray again after that, the tips of Keeli's fingers twitching as the cool liquid came in contact with the abrasion.

As the two Captains sat there in silence, Keeli's attention was drawn between Howzer's hands, as they picked up a bacta patch from the first aid kit, and his face, where the deep lines of worry were so much deeper than they had been two months ago.

Keeli wanted to smooth them away, all too aware how the same lines decorated his face.

Suddenly Howzer stopped, the hand holding the bacta patch hovering above Keeli's. Keeli made a soft inquiring sound. Howzer didn't reply, just stared intensely at the abrasion, the lines red and puffy. He felt Howzer's fingers tighten their hold on his wrist and then Keeli was pulled forward.

Without a word, Howzer raised Keeli's hand, palm up, as he bent down slightly.

His lips were dry and a little chapped, but they were warm and gentle.

Chapter Text

There was a misshapen lump in his bunk that hadn't been there when Echo left for his meeting with Rex.

It had been on the bunk above his.

With a raised eyebrow, Echo walked steadily closer. Once he got close enough, his ears caught the suffering groan the lump made as it rolled on its side. The blankets (of course Fives' had stolen Echo's blanket) parted enough to reveal Fives' messy curls and parts of his forehead.

Leaving his helmet on Fives' bunk, Echo sat down and rested a hand where he guessed the other's shoulder to be. "Hey."

The lump of vod and blankets shifted again and this time Fives' whole face emerged. Echo grimaced a little at the redness of Fives' nose and cheeks.

"You look like shit," Echo said softly, reaching to cup Fives' cheek, thumb gently rubbing the thin skin beneath his eye.

Fives snorted, looking just a bit less miserable. "You really know how to compliment a brother," he muttered but the expression on his face was pure relief as he leaned into Echo's touch.

"When is it time for your next dose?" Echo asked, and Fives hummed.

"In an hour. Need to eat something before that, though." Fives' nose wrinkled, the thought of having to eat clearly unpleasant in his current state. "Could you get me something from the mess? Every time I stand up, the floor starts moving."

Echo nodded with a smile. "No problem, cyare. I'll grab you some gray cubes."

Echo chuckled when Fives' nose wrinkled even more, his whole face expressing extreme dislike. But it was telling how he didn’t ask Echo to bring him something else. The gray cubes (what they were supposed really to be, Echo had no idea) were probably the blandest of foods ever to come out of Kamino, but they were still nutritious enough for Fives' sick body.

Planting his free hand next to Fives' head, Echo leaned over. "I'll be back soon, then," he promised and pecked Fives' brow, smiling when he heard the other sigh happily at the touch.

Sitting up, Echo caressed the flushed cheek for a few seconds longer, then made sure the blankets were tucked securely around Fives before he got up. He grabbed his helmet and walked out of the bunk room with quick steps, looking very much like the ARC trooper on a mission that he was.

Chapter Text

Glitch opened his eyes partially when something shifted in the nearby bush, making it rustle loudly. It didn't feel like anything dangerous, so he didn't get up, and honestly? He didn't even want to. The sun shone brightly from above Glitch, and the boulder he leaned against was pleasantly warm. Despite wearing only half of his armor, the warmth of the sun made his limbs feel pleasantly heavy, making the thought of moving even more displeasing.

However, the warmth could also be attributed to the giant of a Zabrak who rested his head in Glitch's lap.

Savage had found his way to Glitch some time ago and laid down on his side without a word. The fact that he was facing Glitch, leaving his back unguarded, had made the clone's heart beat fast for a minute or two. Glitch had placed a hand on that wide shoulder, to which Savage had reacted by wrapping a large arm loosely around the clone's waist.

Looking down, Glitch saw Savage's closed eyes, and the steadily rising and lowering shoulder indicated that he was asleep.

Smiling, Glitch let his hand slide down from Savage's shoulder to cup the back of his head gently, mindful of the sharp horns. He had every intention of petting Savage to help him stay relaxed when the Zabrak spoke.

"Is there a reason why you're moving so much?" Savage's deep voice rumbled, never opening his eyes.

A little surprised, Glitch chuckled. "I barely shifted," he protested with a grin that only widened when Savage snorted, unimpressed.

The arm around Glitch tightened, and he gasped when Savage pushed his face further into Glitch's unarmored middle.

"Don't. Move."

Glitch shuddered when the order was rumbled right into his abdomen, his heart speeding up again.

There was no way Savage missed that and Glitch, well, glitched as he watched in what felt like slow motion, for Savage to smirk lazily before nuzzling the clone's stomach with another bone-rattling purr.

Once satisfied, Savage relaxed again and apparently fell back to sleep, seemingly uncaring how he had just all but melted Glitch's brain. 

Chapter Text

Zeb's ears twisted back when he caught the crunch of fallen leaves being stepped on. Turning slightly on the thick root he had picked as his seat, Zeb spotted Kallus roughly fifty feet away from him and approaching. Behind the human, the landing zone was just about as quiet as it could be at this time of the evening when the twilight was swiftly turning into true darkness.

"I've been looking for you," Kallus said in greeting when he got closer, the quick smile he flashed earning a bigger one from Zeb in return.

"You could've commed me if you wanted to find me that bad," Zeb pointed out with a crooked grin before turning his back to Kallus again, his attention back on his carving.

A loud huff from Kallus had him chuckling, his right ear twitching slightly when the human got close enough to sit down. Unlike Zeb, Kallus chose to sit so he was facing the Temple, close enough for Zeb to breathe in Kallus' scent and, if he wanted, to bump their shoulders together.

"What if I wanted to speak to you personally instead of through a comm?" Kallus asked instead, to which Zeb hummed.

"Go on. What did you want to talk about?"

Kallus sighed, and suddenly there was weight against Zeb's shoulder as the human leaned heavily against him. "Well, you remember those new rebels that arrived this morning? Well, in less than three hours they -- "

Zeb listened to Kallus half-talk, half-vent about the new rebels and what they had gotten into. He made an occasional sympathetic sound, asking one question here and another there to clarify something. It wasn't often that Kallus confided to Zeb like this, so he took that as another sign of the deepening bond between them.

Eventually, Kallus stopped, and they fell into a comfortable silence with Zeb giving the finishing touches to the wooden Y-wing toy and Kallus watching the mechanics as they fixed one of the real Y-wings.

Zeb felt Kallus shift next to him, certain that he was going to finally turn around and give Zeb an opportunity to pull the human into a loose hug. (They'd been doing that quite lately, not quite cuddling but something close to it.) Instead, Kallus started rubbing his cheek against Zeb's shoulder.

Freezing, Zeb felt his ears stand up as he kept still or at least tried to, the quiet rasp of Kallus' thick beard rubbing against his fur making Zeb shudder. With every slow move, more and more of Kallus' scent stuck to the violet hair, mixing with Zeb's, who had to drop the Y-wing onto the forest floor so that he wouldn't snap it in two accidentally.

"Kallus," Zeb wheezed, shocked, as he twisted his head to look at the human from the corner of his eye.

Kallus raised his head, his gold-brown eyes on Zeb. This close, Zeb could see the little flecks, freckles, on his face, and a quick, deep inhale filled Zeb's nose with the mixed scent of them, not covering only him but Kallus also.

"I'll be in my bunk room," the human said before rising smoothly and walking away with slow, confident steps. He looked every bit the highly trained officer he once was.

Zeb sat there, dumbfounded, until the sound of Kallus' steps had nearly faded, before quickly jumping to his feet. He barely remembered to grab the Y-wing toy from the ground before he was running after the human, heart pounding in his chest as Zeb wondered just who the kark had taught Kallus to kiss like that. 

Chapter Text

Gregor was half-asleep, but at the sound of the tent flap opening, his body reacted to the unexpected sound by forcing him to sit up as a hand searched for a blaster.

"At ease, soldier," the intruder ordered before Gregor found the weapon, the growled command forcing his drowsy brain to obey just as instinctively as it had moved a second ago.

Blinking to clear away the sleep from his eyes, Gregor saw Wolffe's back as the man sealed the tent again. Sighing, Gregor let himself fall back onto the bunk, ready to fall asleep again now that there was no reason for him to be alert. Still, he watched the other clone through his lashes as Wolffe started removing his armor, placing it next to Gregor's Katarn.

The soft, steady sound of plating being placed on top of plating almost lulled Gregor back to sleep, but he perked up with an inquiring hum when Wolffe slipped into the bunk. Sighing, Gregor gave in to the other man's prodding (gracefully and without complaint, he'd like to point out), so Wolffe could take the spot between the tent wall and the Commando.

"Comfy?" Gregor only asked, smiling into his pillow when he heard Wolffe sigh. Strong arms wrapped around him, and a leg was thrown over the Commando's, as the Wolfpack Commander curled around him like a living, breathing backpack.

"Very," Wolffe replied, nosing at Gregor's neck.

"Good, because I need at least six hours of uninterrupted sleep to stay this pretty and you just woke me up in the middle of it."

Gregor smirked when Wolffe snorted, only to jolt in surprise when the other man nipped his shoulder.

"You're already pretty enough," Wolffe muttered, his arms tightening their hold on Gregor as he was pulled tighter against the Commander's chest. "If you get prettier, I'll have to fight the men off with a karking lightsabre."

Gregor couldn't stop himself from snickering, not that Wolffe seemed to mind as he started to press soft, gentle kisses on Gregor's shaking shoulder. "Are you going to borrow your General's lightsabre for that?"

"No, I'll just grab your General's lightsabre the next time he drops it, and use that," Wolffe replied, deadpan.

Gregor only laughed louder, feeling the shape of Wolffe's smug smirk as it was imprinted upon his shoulder.