Work Text:
Three years after the battle of Geonosis
“Go enjoy yourselves. Stay out of trouble.”
The clacking of boots and armor echoed through the spaceport as the 501st saluted their general when he dismissed them for a few rare, precious hours of leave. Kenobi rolled his eyes as Rex and Anakin exchanged mischievous grins, and pulled Hardcase along toward the exit that led to the town. Hardcase looked back at Jesse, but Jesse waved him on. He had a promise to keep.
Kix was waiting at the eastern entrance, leaning against the wall and talking to another medic. He flashed his little lopsided smile as the other medic said something, gesticulating wildly. Something about that smile made Jesse’s stomach flip. In a good way. Kix’s smile widened as his eyes fell on Jesse, and Jesse grinned back.
“Ready Kixy?” Jesse asked, nudging his friend with his elbow. Kix rolled his eyes and clapped Jesse on the shoulder, waving goodbye to the other medic as Jesse led them out of the base and into the sunlight.
It was easy to be with Kix. They’d been friends since the beginning of the war. How and why Jesse would never figure out. Maybe because Jesse was always landing himself in the medbay, and he was the only one to keep Kix laughing when everything else in his life seemed to be falling apart. Maybe because when Jesse really needed someone to look after him, Kix was there with bacta or a glass of water, or just a soft smile and warm embrace. They were drawn to each other like magnets. Always sitting together during meals. Always ending up fighting side-by side in battle. And at night it was the most comfortable to curl up together either in the bunks or amongst the dog pile at a battle-side camp.
Sure, they each had other friends. Jesse liked getting into trouble with Hardcase and Rex and Commander Skywalker. Kix had medic friends he spent time with, and he had the occasional sabacc game with Commander Cody and General Kenobi.
But if Jesse could only have one friend for the rest of his life, he would pick Kix, hands down, no competition, no hesitation.
“You still wanna do this?” Kix asked, his lopsided grin back on his face as he nudged Jesse with his elbow.
“Absolutely. We have to settle this.”
Their destination: the nearby beach.
Jesse’s promise to Kix: a swimming race.
They stared out into the water, a perfect spot for swimming. A sandy peninsula to their left extended out in a long arc into the bay, creating a calm lagoon with soft waves and shallow waters. They stripped out of their armor, leaving it with a few other clones lounging in the sand, but agreed to keep on their body gloves because of the civilians dotted along the beach, who watched them curiously. They had been told that civilians weren’t as comfortable with nudity as clones.
“Okay, first to the end of that land strip wins,” Jesse said, rubbing his hands together.
“Ready?”
“On your mark.”
Kix gave Jesse that lopsided grin. His heart skipped a beat. Kix took two steps forward before saying go, and Jesse lunged forward to tackle him, both of them landing at the edge of the waves, their hands sinking into the sloppy sand as they laughed.
“Go!” Kix shouted, and he jumped up into the wave. Jesse pulled on Kix’s foot to trip him as he struggled to pull himself out of the sand.
It wasn’t so much a race as it was a competition to see who could slow the other down the most to gain that extra ten centimeters of distance. Jesse tried not to actually drown as he laughed so hard water got into his mouth and nose. He and Kix took turns shoving each other’s heads underwater or pulling on legs and arms, occasionally ending up wrapped up together under the surface, trying to disentangle their limbs from each other and the thin layer of plant life growing out of the sand.
Kix officially made it to the other side first, but only because Jesse couldn’t figure out how to stand up in the wave that had caught him and dragged him back out into the lagoon, filling his body glove with sharp sand. When he did get out, he limped a little as the sand lodged itself in and around all his crevices and the sensitive places he didn’t want it, and he ended up going back into the water to unseal his body glove under the surface and shake out all the sand while Kix lay down on the beach. It was much quieter on this side of the lagoon. Parents with children clearly didn’t want to walk all this way.
Jesse finally joined Kix on the beach, his body glove now comfortably sand-free. He lay down next to Kix so that their arms barely touched, and put his other arm behind his head. The sun was warm and glorious on his skin. He felt Kix’s fingers travel around to the inside of his wrist and down the palm of his hand to slide between his fingers. His hand was calloused from holding a blaster, and the skin of his knuckles was rough and dry from continuous hand washing. But Jesse delighted in the feeling of Kix’s hand in his. Why didn’t they do this more often?
“I won,” Kix hummed.
“No, I think I won,” Jesse argued playfully.
“Oh? How’s that?”
Jesse squeezed Kix’s hand and turned his head to look over at him. There was sand stuck to his wet scalp, covering his tattoos.
“I’m here on this peaceful beach, laying in this beautiful weather, with the most amazing person in the whole galaxy. That makes me the winner.”
Kix turned his head to look at Jesse, a warm lopsided grin on his face. “I guess I’m the winner, too.”
Jesse removed his hand from behind his head to brush the sand off Kix’s cheek. The freshly shaved skin of his face was soft under Jesse’s rough fingers. Kix smiled under Jesse’s touch.
For a moment, the whole galaxy was just the two of them. The only thing that mattered was the warmth of Kix’s eyes, the pressure of their clasped hands, and that perfect lopsided smile. Jesse wondered why they didn’t take the time to touch like this. Little touches on cheeks and clasping of fingers and hands.
The sound of clone laughter and rough splashing came from nearby, and both Jesse and Kix instinctually removed their hands from each other’s grasp as Jesse pulled his hand away from Kix’s face.
Right. That’s why.