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"Gods, they're never going to let me live this down," Fox ponders disdainfully. "I'm not going to let myself live this down. Dammit. Skywalker. Really?"
He groans and shoves his head into his arms, but peeks an eye back up to stare at Anakin through the monitor.
"He may not even be into men," Fox reasons with himself. "Could be a complete impossibility."
Fox stares at Anakin harder, eyes squinting as he watches him move about the room, bopping to some music as he shows off his model ships to the mouse droids, flying them around the room both with the force and by hand.
Anakin promptly bonks his head on the bottom of his loft bed.
Fox sighs, "Well, at least he's got the disaster part down."
The puzzles are an absolute delight for both of them.
It's the highlight of Anakin's day when a mouse droid won't leave him alone, anxious to show off it's new game. And then there's the little surprise waiting for him at the end to reward him once he's solved it. Most recently, the Maker had created a decent rendition of a Tatooine blues song that happens to be one of Anakin's favorites.
Fox was so pleased to receive a puzzle in return, following the first he'd sent. Granted, it challenged him more than he had expected. It took him days to work it out. He liked to puzzle through it as he did the more manual tasks of his job, like guarding the chancellor in his chambers for 12 hours for no reason at all. There were vod posted outside the room. At any rate, better Fox take the random osik the chancellor threw at him than the vod'ike outside.
Still, the post was mostly boring so long as he was able to do as told. It was only when he was struggling that things got a bit more interesting/unfortunate. So Fox had plenty of time to stand and ponder the puzzle so long as he kept an ear out for orders.
Having something nice to think about made the shift a lot more bearable.
They've been gifting puzzles back and forth for a while now, just over a month maybe. Or several weeks at least. Fox has learned so much about coding since it all started. He'd been decent at it to begin with, but Anakin's certainly a step above the rest, and Fox has been pushing himself to make puzzles that Anakin will find challenging.
Fox types in the last few code corrections into his most recent gift, runs the system and waits to see if it works.
The droid lights up, spins once, then spews a few lines in binary on repeat.
Fox listens closely to make out the message.
"Want to meet?"
Fox grins.
Anakin steadily works on the Maker's puzzle, wondering what the response will be. They've certainly been amping up their code. This one's pretty stout. It's not often Ani finds someone who can compete with his coding ability.
He high fives himself, pleased, when he finally cracks it, and -
"Sure, when?"
"Hey, can you swap shifts with me this Taungsday?" Fox says as casually as possible.
Not casually enough, apparently.
Thorn narrows his eyes, "that depends, why?"
"I've got... plans."
"With..." Thorn prompts.
Anakin's face comes to mind unbidden.
Fox scratches his head, tries to focus on the task of getting Thorn to agree, but honestly he's so nervous about this.
But also excited. So excited.
"The hat maker," Fox quietly admits.
"The hat maker," Thorn repeats. "The being who kept putting hats on Os'ike."
Thorn takes in the soft shift in Fox's face with concern.
"You've... it's more than just the hats, isn't it?" He realizes. "You've been talking to them."
"Not talking," Fox protests. "Not really. Until recently, I mean. Just to coordinate the meet up."
"Then what's got you so interested?"
"We've been sending each other... puzzles, I guess."
Fox hasn't really had to explain it before. It's not easy to define the odd friendship he and Anakin have built.
"Puzzles?" Thorn levels. "Do those puzzles involve holonudes?"
"No," Fox snaps. "Nothing like that."
"Damn, that's too bad," Thorn sighs. "Manda knows you could use it."
"Kark you."
"Nah, you need to save yourself for your mystery being," Thorn says. "Do you even know who they are?"
"... Yeah."
"And?"
"And... that's none of your business. Yet."
"My ori'vod's gonna start dating a being, it's totally my - "
"I did say yet," Fox says defensively. "I'll tell you. Someday."
"Yeah, probably when you've kriffed a kid into them and you need a babysitter."
"Not in the cards," Fox murmurs.
"So they're either a bio-dude," Thorn reasonably concludes, "or a non-compatible species."
Fox smells the Tatooine food stall before he sees it. It's not a far walk, the stall is about center between the corrie barracks and the Temple.
Shifting subtly, Fox straightens his shirt as he sits down. He's snatched a pair of civies from Thorn for this. There will probably be hell to pay when he returns, but it'll be worth it. If he's lucky, between the civies and his mutations, Anakin may not even realize he's a clone right away.
It's not that he's embarrassed to be a clone, it's just that he knows this interaction would go a lot more smoothly if he weren't.
Fox knows it's naive to believe Anakin won't notice. It's still all too easy to tell, considering he sees his own face a million times a day and there's a grand total of one mirror in the corrie barracks.
But then, Anakin is kind to Rex. Even if he throws him a little more than strictly necessary. Perhaps Anakin won't mind that he's a clone.
Fox kicks his legs as he sits at a high table near the food stall and waits for Anakin to arrive.
It's not like the Jedi is known for his timeliness, after all.
Anakin's not certain who he's looking for.
He scans the crowd near the food stall of gloriousness, inhaling the scent deeply in anticipation as he continues his search.
No one stands out as a mouse droid maker.
Obi had thought it was likely a vod, which makes sense, but Ani doesn't see any vode anywhere... Wait, no, there's one. There's a mutie sitting at one of the tables. If he hadn't been looking for a clone face, he probably wouldn't have realized they were one.
Every now and then, a clone comes out just a little more beautiful than the others. That's not to say they weren't all attractive beings, they were, they were designed that way, but...
The way this vod's hair looked like Obi's dunked in a pot of calamari ink? Just a dark, dark red, lit to burn by the sun's rays drifting between curly locks.
Instead of the standard chestnut brown eyes, this vod's were nearly black - almost seeming to merge into the pupils. His build is on the slimmer side, but Anakin knows that doesn't mean much for clones. They're all a lot stronger than they appear. He could be a stealth model, Ani supposes.
The vod caught his eye and waved.
Ah, so this is who he's supposed to meet.
Anakin waves back, then settles down into the seat across from the vod.
"Hi," he greets. "I take it you're the vod who's droids I made hats for?
"Hi," the clone says, a little shyly. "The Os'ike seem to like you a lot. They were so happy with their hats."
"Os'ike? Which one's name is that?"
"Oh, that's what I call the group of them," the clone answered. "Individually, they're Os'ika."
"Is that a mandalorian word?"
"Eh... sort of? It's more of a vod word. I'm not sure the mandalorians mashed them together in this particular... configuration."
"What's it mean?"
A pleasant, rosy color seeps onto the vod's cheeks.
"The uh... direct translation would be... 'shitlets'. And one would be a 'little shit'. Meant affectionately, of course."
"Of course," Anakin nodded, humor shifting over his face.
Little gods, the man has a grin like the sun.
Fox can't help but to stare.
Anakin bumps his shoulder gently with his own.
"Want to grab food? We can talk shop while we eat."
"Yeah - uh - ok!"
Manda, Fox is acting like a shiny.
A shy shiny at that, and Fox definitely isn't either of those things.
They stand in line for a moment before Anakin asks him if he's ever eaten here before.
"Uh, no," Fox answers. "But I've often walked past before. It always smells so good."
"Oh, speaking of which, how did you know my order?" Anakin turns that blazing smile back at him.
Fox's brain shorts out for a moment.
"Uhh..."
Damn it, Fox, say something.
Fox blinks, looks away from the smile so he can think again.
"I just... you've talked about it before. In the senate building once. You were speaking with General Kenobi."
"Oh, so you're a corrie then?"
Hadn't Fox already - oh, no, he hadn't.
Fox bites his lip. This is another spot it could all go sour.
The only times Anakin would have met him is when he was bailing his men out after a night at 79s - which is far from ideal.
But Fox isn't just going to lie about such a thing, and Anakin had asked him directly.
Fox nods slowly, watching for any hint of disappointment or dissatisfaction on Anakin's face.
"That's cool," Anakin nods. "I always figured there was more to your bunch than met the eye. No one can be that still for so long. I bet you just talk on the internal coms the whole time, right?"
Well, count Fox flabbergasted.
Fox nods again, encouraged by the response, "Makes it easier to stay awake."
"I bet. A lot of those meetings are drier than Tatooine, I don't know how you do it."
"Not like we get much of a choice," Fox shrugs. "Got to figure it out somehow. It's nicer with a vod in your ear."
"That's fair," Anakin acknowledges. "Lunch is on me, what are you feeling?"
"I don't know, what's good?"
"You can't wrong, really, but I prefer - well, you already know what I prefer," Anakin pauses, reorganizing his thoughts. "Do you like spicy or mild?"
"Both, but spicy is better,"
The Jedi quizzes him on a few more flavors and textures before nodding definitively.
"I've got just the thing,"
Fox watches as Anakin orders for the two of them, and it's not long before he has a pile of... brightly colored mush in his hands, along with a disk of bread.
He gives it a cautionary sniff and tries not to melt into a pile of goo when it lights up his brain.
It smells like Manda itself came down to cook for him. So much better than the protein mush he'd likely have had otherwise.
After the first bite, Fox concludes that the way to a man's heart may in fact be through their stomach. Cya may disagree, but Fox believes he will soon be living proof.
It takes him a moment to realize he's been completely ignoring Anakin in favor of the food.
When he finally looks back up and takes a breath, there's that damn grin again, nearly blinding him.
"Good, huh?" Anakin asks.
Fox nods dumbly.
They proceed to gobble in amicable silence, punctuated by the occasional pleased noise as Fox encounters a new flavor he'd not noticed yet.
After they both tuck a little ways into their meals and their hunger has been soothed, conversation picks up.
Asking about little bits of code, or hat folding techniques.
Upon Anakin's question regarding why each mouse droid is so unique, with no repeating parts in any of them, Fox responds,
"I just make them out of whatever's lying around," Fox says. "I don't ever buy parts for them. Just... make them. Keeps my hands busy."
"That's awesome! Not many people know how to do that these days," Anakin says excitedly. "I tried to join a droid building club, but they were just buying kits and following the instructions. Not that that's not a great way to start out, but it's just not the same, ya know?"
A few questions and a lot of code later, an Os'ika comes to visit, demanding attention.
She spins in a little loop, ensuring Fox gets an excellent view of her crown.
"A crown?" Fox questions. "All the others have been hats?"
Anakin shrugs, blushing a bit. "Seemed like she was in charge, so I gave her a crown."
Conversation continues as the air cools, the artificial sun's strength lessening. Fox finds himself a bit chilly without his armor, but Anakin promptly shifts and adjusts his robes, blocking the wind from him. He's not certain if Anakin did it on purpose, but if he did, he's grateful.
"Stay right here," Anakin says suddenly. "I'll be back."
Fox would have been alarmed, except the Jedi still looked perfectly at ease, if a little excited.
He watches as Anakin talks to the chef in the food stall, who nods as he hands him some credits.
The Jedi returns with yet another take out box in his hands. He sets it on Fox's lap.
"Can't say you tried Tatooine cuisine until you try a krayt cake!"
Fox can't help but to grin back as he takes in the abomination of a "cake", just a spaghetti of fried dough smothered in as much powdered sugar as Senator Amaretti uses face powder.
"You just pull off a piece like this," Anakin says, plucking a piece from the cake. "And... monch. Be prepared for the sugar invasion though."
Fox takes a bit from the cake and tries it, surprised by the crunch, despite hearing it when Anakin had eaten it.
As the conversation continues, Fox begins to get a little more confident and starts telling Anakin about a project he's been working on for awhile, gesturing widely as he tries to give an outline of the schematics.
By the time the cake is gone, it's getting dark and the lamps are beginning to come on along the streets. Anakin childishly licks his fingers, and pops a particularly sugar covered one into his mouth, sucking as the lamp cast shadows onto his face.
Fox resolutely does not stare. And he most certainly maintains only professional thoughts.
Instead, Fox focuses on removing the sugar from his own fingertips, rubbing them together above him to encourage the sugar to fall into his mouth.
Just a few moments later, a beep sounds and Fox looks down at his comm with disdain.
It's the alarm he set for himself, earlier, to let him know when he needed to leave if he had any chance of getting some sleep before his next shift.
"Sorry, I - "
"It's getting late," Anakin nods.
They both stand there for a moment longer before,
"I've had a great time,"
"We should do this again,"
It's a stumble of words, all muddled together as they speak at once.
Fox gives a nervous chuckle as Ani cracks a smile.
"See you later," Ani say softly.
Fox nods, and hesitantly walks back towards the barracks.
Anakin sits at the table for awhile longer, poking his fingers in the remnants of the powdered sugar in the container and licking them clean.
It only occurs to him, long after the trooper has vanished from sight, that he forgot to ask what his name was.
It's not a big deal, if he didn't offer it up himself, the vod probably didn't want to tell him yet. A lot of vode were that way, Anakin found. Names were very important to them - something to be valued and protected. He thinks he can understand that to some degree.
Skywalker is a name he wears with pride. It represents centuries, perhaps even millennia of struggle and survival. For a Skywalker to finally be a free man? There's no greater badge of honor.
So Anakin decides he won't pressure the vod for a name. Not when it's the only thing he truly has. Well, and the Os'ike.
It's also possible that the vod doesn't have a name yet, a lot of shinies don't.
But he doesn't seem very shiny.
If Ani had to guess, he'd have to be a sergeant at least, just going off apparent age alone.
There are little lines between his brows and the corners of his eyes. They're still small, but it's enough to show that he's had time to experience a few highs and lows in life.
Ani wonders what the name might be. When the vod might decide to tell him.
He's got many questions to ponder as he licks up the last of the sugar and wanders his way back to the Temple.
Meanwhile, Fox is lying on his bunk squealing into his pillow as silently as he can manage.
He wants to smack himself for acting like a cadet, but he just had such a wonderful time.
It takes awhile for sleep to take him as he calms down from the excitement. Luckily there are no other sleeping vode in the room for him to distrub with his tossing and turning.
Fox is fairly certain his alarm goes off the moment he falls asleep, but he pulls himself out of bed anyway. Cya will probably have his hide that he skipped most of his sleep cycle again, then give him a thirty minute lecture - as though that doesn't also take time out of his day.
He doesn't ponder the thought long, finding that although he's definitely exhausted, he's actually in a rather great mood.
The Jedi dive bombs his mind repeatedly as he shrugs his blacks on and starts attaching armor. Just little frozen moments in time, mostly of that smile, or the way the light plays off those baby blues at dusk.
He's so screwed.
But he can't bring himself to be bothered by it.
Thorn stares at Fox with narrowed eyes.
There have been more cups of caf than usual, which means he's not sleeping again. But also he's smiling. At filmsywork. Just completely randomly. He'll be plugging along through a requisition form and just suddenly grin.
"It went well, I take it?" Thorn questions.
Fox nods a smidge too excitedly, "It was great! He got me food, and we talked about the Os'ike and his tooka droid, and - "
Thorn's face softens, "You really like this guy, don't you?"
Fox pauses, blushing as he tries to regain a more professional countenance, then nods.
"I... I know it's ridiculous. I'm acting like a karking cadet. Sorry."
"No, it's nice to see you like this again," Thorn affectionately bops Fox on the head with a stack of datapads as he passes by Fox's desk to file them. "It's been awhile since you've gotten this happy It's nice to see your smile again."
"Hey, I smile!"
Thorn raises an eyebrow, "Not like that, ori'vod," he says. "Just... be careful. I don't have to tell you that natborns can be dangerous."
"I know," Fox sighs. "I didn't give him my name or position. But he did figure out that I'm a corrie."
"Kark, vod," Thorn purses his lips. "He's not going to come sniffing around, is he? If he is, we should tell our vod'ike to be on the look out - "
"I don't think so? He seems content to talk with me via droid?" Fox answers. "I don't think he'd even know where the barracks are. If he did try to come around, he'd probably poke around the senate halls 'til he found me."
And poke around Anakin did.