. 𝑨𝑺𝑪𝑰𝑨𝑵

Those missions had been few and far between regardless. The war's demands leaving no time for traditional missions for the Order's youngest members.

Now? She's used to rise in temperature in rooms over-occupied and barely regulated. A din of music and voices reverberating through her montrals. Exactly just how much of the galaxy flows and operates over drinks beneath dim lights and neon.

Coruscant was the heart of it all.

Ahsoka avoided the planet she'd called home for the majority of her childhood. Even here, miles beneath the ecumenopolis' surface that saw sunlight, she could still feel the press of the dark side from the remnants of the Jedi Temple. No longer subtle in its aura and pervasive enough to stir anxieties within her she knows must remain under her control if she wants to avoid the notice of its masters and perpetrators.

Besides, she's here on business.

A few hours prior, she'd been several levels lower, slipping encrypted intel into a designated dead drop for the Martez sisters. A small, personal assignment compared to her larger purpose for returning to the Republic Imperial capital. Saw Gerrera was...not exactly an old friend but certainly an old ally. And allies were few and far between, trusted ones even more so. Over the years, she's learned that Saw could be...unpredictable, his methods increasingly hostile. But his cause was just (in its ends if not its means) and Ahsoka wasn't in any position to be picking and choosing allies based on her own morals and misgivings.

So here she was sent, to act as intermediary in a dingy cantina on the last planet in the galaxy she wanted to be on...beside a man whose face she couldn't quite place but whose features gnawed at her memories like raxshir cubs with a bone.

              𝙰𝙻𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷  𝚃𝙷𝙴  𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶  𝙷𝙰𝙳  𝙳𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝙶𝙴𝙳  𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼  𝙸𝚃𝚂  𝙼𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙴  𝚃𝚁𝙰𝙹𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 with almost comical abruptness, akuna maintained his composure. years of training had instilled in him a fundamental truth: adaptability was not an innate instinct, but a skill whetted through repetition and a conscious suppression of sentiment. survivors of the purge were no novelty; they had become a familiar category in the broader scope of his duties.  denvik had seen to that, much to bode’s private, ever-festering frustration; it had become his responsibility to manage these fragile remnants, to refine his approach to each encounter, shaping his noxious role within the empire’s intelligence apparatus.

it was a specialization cultivated against his will, a task he neither enjoyed nor sought, yet one that had proven invaluable in honing his expertise as an operative. . . granted, those prior operations hadn’t involved three — or was it four? — glasses of substandard whiskey, but in essence, not entirely unlike previous operations.

tonight’s divergence lay not in its form, but in its content: face, name, environmental parameters—and, more crucially, in the unsettling absence of preparatory intelligence.  the absence of data was always more dangerous than the presence of an active threat.

moreover, in prior assignments, denvik had at least ensured one measure of psychological insulation: his targets had been unfamiliar, figures too aged or too young to place the knight he once was within the halls of the temple. while that anonymity, albeit meager, had been a mercy, it now prompted a new question: had tano ever seen him before?  their paths had never explicitly crossed during the waning days of the clone war, but memory was a fickle thing, and ahsoka tano was not a name easily forgotten.

the possibility of recognition dug beneath his skin, squirming toward inevitability.  a cognitive bias, perhaps. or a warning.

❝i’ve got one rule when it comes to places like this: eat what’s hot, drink what’s clean, and don’t ask too many questions.❞  bode flashed her a toothy grin, deciding to roll with the punches, and gestured to the empty seat beside him.  ❝but since you asked, stay away from the gizka specials.  had a friend lose a week’s worth of pay to a bad slider.❞

yet even as he spoke, part of bode’s mind was elsewhere, turning over a far more perplexing matter.  ahsoka tano’s presence here was not only improbable; it defied reason.  no place in the galaxy was more perilous for a jedi than the very heart of the empire’s dominion, the very cradle of the regime that had brought their order to ruin.  a fugitive jedi choosing the one jurisdiction where detection was to court annihilation.  the logic did not align. unless. . .

              ❝so, you passing through, or should i start getting nervous?❞  bode leaned back just a bit as the bartender swapped his empty glass with something he recognized as less mind-altering.  ❝’cause if you’re sticking close to me, either you know something i don’t. . . or you’re planning to.❞

Yet another thing to not look at too deeply, Cal thought to himself as he grabbed some dried fruit and absentmindedly continued to graze on the snacks.

The cave itself was rather beautiful. He could feel BD constantly shifting on his shoulder, trying to catalogue all the different fungi and rock formations without straying. This was meant to be a temporary stop as they waited for the opposing patrols to either pass, or stop and fight and THEN pass them by. Safe enough to obey Greez, volatile enough to not try exploring further.

You’re lucky you’re good. His brows furrowed at the comment, confusion evident on his face. Cal had always made a point to allow surface level thoughts and feelings be openly read in his expressions but his actual deeper mentality kept hidden to all but a very select few, having learned the hard way more than once what wearing his heart on his sleeve could do, but with the taller (bigger, and no Cal didn’t think about Bode being able to toss him around if he let him. Not at all) man next to him he found himself exposed and uncaring about hiding much.

If Saw were here he’d be lecturing him on not trusting anyone. Cal felt grateful more than ever for the distance at this moment.

              ❝𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙽𝙴𝚁  𝙰𝙽𝙳  𝙰  𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚆,  𝙷𝚄𝙷?❞ akuna tilted his head, that half-cocked smirk sliding just far enough into flirtation to blur the line.  all casual-like to test the waters, and with plenty edge to make it interesting.  ❝you make dodging death sound like a date night.❞

and to his credit, cal kestis was not wrong. bode could see that for himself, through the narrow crevices of their shelter, gaps in the rock wall that allowed shafts of sunlight to cut through the otherwise oppressive gloom.  sixty meters beyond the refuge where they hid, a detachment of thirty or so stormtroopers seemed caught in an almost absurd struggle with the planet’s native fauna.

at some point, an enraged mogu had inserted itself into the scene with singular enthusiasm, its massive form thrashing through the underbrush, reducing military formation and cohesion to mere abstract concepts.  not long after, two packs of gorgers, drawn by the commotion and the scent of blood, had descended upon the troopers with what could only be opportunistic cooperation. even among predators, hunger could create alliances. further into the distance, several spikers careened down koboh’s uneven terrain, propelled less by purpose than momentum, before colliding with a purge trooper. then another. of the two armored figures struck, only one rose again. good.

as bode watched, he took another bite.  the flavor registered in distinct phases: first, the tartness of meiloorun fruit cutting through the neutral bulk of the protein base, then the occasional crunch of koja nuts, adding texture to an otherwise monotonous blend.  a faint, creamy aftertaste lingered at the back of his tongue, a remnant of what was likely powdered bantha milk, a cheap protein isolate added more for utility than taste. he chewed thoughtfully.

in another life, cooking had been a form of expression, a way of communicating care, a silent vow made over the stove. it had been his language of love before the universe had swept him into darker paths.  in those days, well before imperial entanglements and intelligence reports, he made promises sealed not in blood or code but in meals shared beside a sunlit window.  along with tayala’s gentle smile, her joy upon seeing his ambition to cook for her every day. . .  that life felt centuries away now, orbiting a different star.  the closest thing he had now was prepping for a dehydrated field ration or pre-prepared meal pack, all with very little attention to flavor, only function.

still, old habits endured.  condensed nerf milk might offset the meiloorun’s acidic zip and serve as an emulsifier to bind the texture, something greez might appreciate, especially if it provided kestis more calories to burn.

❝you really don’t scare easy, do you?❞ bode asked suddenly—and maybe a touch too softly.  he scarfed down another mouthful of the bar, then cleared his throat, the remnants of his reflection already tucked safely behind dark eyes.   ❝not sure if that’s reckless. . . or impressive.❞

have we met?

i recognize your face from somewhere.

i've seen you before.

i think i've seen you around.

do you do this often?

you look familiar.

what do you do for work?

did you friends abandon you, too?

are you new around here?

feel like dancing?

i think i'd remember a face like yours.

sorry, i don't mean to stare.

i've heard about you.

have you eaten here before?

you certainly get around.

think i saw you last week.

i've just never seen anyone as beautiful as you before.

i've been meaning to introduce myself.

it's really nice to meet you.

you look a little lost.

do you need some help?

wait a second. i know you.

do you come here often?

looks like we're the only ones left.

can i give you my number?

we haven't been properly introduced.

so... what kind of music do you listen to?

i'm sure you hear that a lot.

i don't mean to pry.

let me call you a taxi.

mind if i sit here?

when did you get here?

how long have you lived here?

do you remember me from last time?

do you like living here?

that was a dumb question to ask.

can i buy you a drink?

i hope i didn't scare you.

have you been here before?

i just think you're really pretty.

we met last week!

i didn't mean to interrupt you.

go on with your day!

i could give you a ride home.

feels like we were destined to meet.

would you dance with me?

i'll be just fine.

let's grab a table.

do you want to grab coffee sometime?

could i see you again?

i felt like i should come over here and introduce myself.

you're extraordinary.

i really enjoy talking to you.

we've been talking for hours.

you were sitting alone, so i thought i'd join you.

would you like to come inside?

feel like going for a walk?

is this seat taken?

could we talk inside?

i'd really like to get to know you.

i never know what you're going to say next.

i can't get enough of you.

this is unusual for me.

i'm not used to this.

did i say that outloud?

what do you recommend here?

i love your laugh. it's so unique.

i'll walk you home.

let me call you an uber.

pretty sure i saw you last week.

was that a pick-up line?

Here, Greez had said while shoving a few homemade protein bars and dried fruits into his pockets. You don't eat enough, kid. I can't make ya sit down and eat a proper meal but the least I can do is make sure you have something while you're running around doing who even knows what out there.

It touched Cal that, even after these years of separation, the older Lateron still fussed over him...not that he'd ever tell him that without teasing him a little first. Instead, he grumbled about being able to take care of himself but took a few pieces of bantha jerky and put them into his pockets too.

Bode had taken up Cal's offer to go exploring Koboh and he didn't want to look too closely at how pleased it made him feel. Four hours later while they're fleeing from both Imps and Raiders he felt a little less pleased, but during a momentary lull between patrols he pulled out one of the protein bars and gnawed on it idly as they waited.

❝ don’t you think our priority should be escape first, eat second? ❞ Cal covered his full mouth and stifled a laugh at Bode's incredulous query.

              𝚃𝙷𝙴  𝙲𝙰𝚅𝙴  𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈  𝙷𝙰𝙳  𝙳𝚄𝙲𝙺𝙴𝙳  𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙾  𝚆𝙰𝚂  𝙰  𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙴𝙳,  𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙸𝙳  𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 , its atmosphere thick with moisture and the faint, mineral scent of stagnant water.  the walls and ceiling were alive with patches of bioluminescent fungus, their soft blue glow pulsing in the gloom like the breathing of some unseen organism.  pools of uncertain depth littered the uneven ground, their surfaces shimmering with an eerie blue-green light—be it from the fungi clinging to submerged stone or the water’s own latent toxicity, akuna couldn’t say.  probably both.

it was, in its own strange way, beautiful. the kind of place that would’ve fascinated his daughter, where he could almost hear her voice asking him to describe every detail.  he would’ve liked to stand there for a moment longer, to commit the scene to memory—not for himself, but for her.  she’d want to draw it, to bring his words to life in color.  maybe she would even ask him to help her, if denvik allowed him to stay long enough to pick up a brush. . .  but, as always, the mission came first.

❝you always snack like we’re not one misstep away from a firefight?❞ bode leaned back against the damp rock, arms folded over his knees, expression an amalgamation of bafflement and reluctant intrigue as he watched kestis demolish an entire protein bar with all the focus of a man savoring his last meal.

this wasn’t in the reports. bode had meticulously studied cal kestis’s file in preparation for this mission, dissecting every account of his feats, every reported piece of intelligence the empire had gathered over the years.  he knew kestis was unpredictable, foolhardy, and yet frighteningly competent in battle.  a fugitive jedi knight known for reckless engagements and an uncanny ability to survive against overwhelming odds.  bode had prepared for volatility, braced himself for the kind of raw, desperate aggression that came with years of running across the galaxy.

            instead, he found himself in a dank, dimly lit cave, watching the so-called ‘legitimate threat to the empire’ enjoy an afternoon snack with seemingly absentminded contentment.

bode didn’t quite know what to make of it. there was something disarmingly human about kestis, almost boyish in his casual defiance of the danger outside.  it was unexpected.  disconcerting, even.  and, in a different life, under entirely different circumstances, he might have even called it charming      bode quickly shouldered aside the wayward thought.   what the hell was he even thinking? oh, fierfek. maybe his proximity to the bioluminescent alien fungi had rendered him stupid for a second.

❝you’re lucky you’re good,❞ he muttered, eyeing the protein bar with a bemused mix of skepticism and approval before plucking it from the jedi’s outstretched hand, his voice dropping just slightly.  ❝and i mean that.  you’re. . . different, kestis.  in a good way.❞

have we met?

i recognize your face from somewhere.

i've seen you before.

i think i've seen you around.

do you do this often?

you look familiar.

what do you do for work?

did you friends abandon you, too?

are you new around here?

feel like dancing?

i think i'd remember a face like yours.

sorry, i don't mean to stare.

i've heard about you.

have you eaten here before?

you certainly get around.

think i saw you last week.

i've just never seen anyone as beautiful as you before.

i've been meaning to introduce myself.

it's really nice to meet you.

you look a little lost.

do you need some help?

wait a second. i know you.

do you come here often?

looks like we're the only ones left.

can i give you my number?

we haven't been properly introduced.

so... what kind of music do you listen to?

i'm sure you hear that a lot.

i don't mean to pry.

let me call you a taxi.

mind if i sit here?

when did you get here?

how long have you lived here?

do you remember me from last time?

do you like living here?

that was a dumb question to ask.

can i buy you a drink?

i hope i didn't scare you.

have you been here before?

i just think you're really pretty.

we met last week!

i didn't mean to interrupt you.

go on with your day!

i could give you a ride home.

feels like we were destined to meet.

would you dance with me?

i'll be just fine.

let's grab a table.

do you want to grab coffee sometime?

could i see you again?

i felt like i should come over here and introduce myself.

you're extraordinary.

i really enjoy talking to you.

we've been talking for hours.

you were sitting alone, so i thought i'd join you.

would you like to come inside?

feel like going for a walk?

is this seat taken?

could we talk inside?

i'd really like to get to know you.

i never know what you're going to say next.

i can't get enough of you.

this is unusual for me.

i'm not used to this.

did i say that outloud?

what do you recommend here?

i love your laugh. it's so unique.

i'll walk you home.

let me call you an uber.

pretty sure i saw you last week.

was that a pick-up line?