batuuwu

cassian gave a little laugh. ❝ ah, give them something to do, i say. they're too busy with work. force them to take a good, long parental leave and get their heads rewired. ❞ he gave leia a playful nudge. ❝ funnily enough, i am not worried about hope at all. hux, however, i will be watching carefully. ❞

cassian was merely teasing -- he knew hux would rise to the occasion. didn't change how nervous the man clearly was about things, though cassian supposed it was natural to be nervous, especially given hux's... track record.

" oh i'm sure hope will be fine. and keep hux in line, " she said with a little laugh. her daughter was very much her daughter.

he took a few bites of his food. ❝ cool, ❞ he said with a little nod. he didn't want to get too emotional or anything, nor did he want bee to feel uncomfortable about that. he decided to change the topic to something she probably found more interesting.

❝ so, have you spoken to the manda'bajur yet? ❞ her arrival was a very sudden and frankly wild thing, but now that the whole thing was settled down for the most part, he was curious. the two of them bonded and connected over bee's newfound discovery of her mother's heritage, and with her constant need to know more, he was interested to hear about how she was handling the whole 'religious expert' in town. ❝ don't tell me you've been too intimidated. ❞

she chuckled at that and shook her head. " of course i'm not intimidated! really just.. busy, " she said. " between stuff at savi's , jedi training, and being with rye, i haven't had any free time to check in. " she let out a little huff of air and cast her eyes down towards her food, picking at her chips instead of just eating them. truthfully, she was afraid she'd been neglecting her mand'alor duties more than she'd realized. not that she'd ever admit that to anyone, even deimos. even as she sat there, staring at her half eaten wrap and chips, she started recalibrating her schedule. maybe if she worked through lunch at savi's... or got up an hour earlier to go train...

kota chuckled and shook his head. getting breena to drink something other than caffeine was a losing battle he'd never get out of, it seemed. he just wanted to make sure she was healthy, that's all -- he knew how she would self-sacrifice and run herself into the ground, just like he would. and it wasn't healthy for either of them, but breena didn't even have an obligation to like he did. she should run around, have fun. that's what he fought for, after all. for the batuuans to not be so damn tired.

❝ good. just as long as you're taking care of yourself too. that's all i care about. the galaxy's far brighter with you in it. ❞ he didn't say it enough, he was ashamed.

he looked down at his food for a moment, just thinking about how to make things a little easier on everyone. ❝ now that the trooper rebellion thing is over, i think we should go back to hosting those weekly dinners, huh. meet the new faces, make sure everybody's eating. and... i dunno. helping people heal a li'l. i'm afraid i've been slacking, bee. ❞ but he smiled a little to show he was only slightly jesting.

" i think that sounds like a great idea! " she said, sitting up straighter with excitement. weekly dinners used to be her favorite part of the week. it was just her way of getting all her friends and family on batuu around, but now the residents of the outpost had grown tenfold. in true breena fashion, her mouth and mind began to race faster than any podracer or starship.

" i don't think everyone can fit in my house anymore though, " she chuckled. "oh! maybe we turn it into some sort of block party potluck thing? everyone can bring a dish! "

he worked his jaw, trying not to seem on the verge of fucking exploding and only making it worse. he used to be so good at keeping himself neutral and dead, but that fucking reprogramming -- this was supposed to be a gift? a relief? something good for him and the other troopers? he'd yet to see a single positive thing come out of this.

he didn't want to give the brigadier general the fucking satisfaction. he wanted to resist this stupid little mission. and hell, he could theoretically just murder this stupid girl and disappear into the forest, never to be seen again. hitch a flight somewhere distant and try to figure out what to do in a galaxy where he was no longer useful.

or... he supposed he could do something far more fun: actually get to know these little rebels, then betray them. absolutely fuck them over, sell them out to any crime syndicate or imperial holdouts that wanted it bad enough. perfect. he'd get to know them, get them to trust them, and show them how fucking stupid they were for doing so.

so, he gave a quiet huff as he walked in-step with kaydel.

❝ your... family. hope i didn't-... ❞ he shook his head sharply. ❝ if i did. i'm... sorry. or whatever. fuck. ❞ he rubbed at his forehead, as if remembering something harrowing.

truthfully, she was trying to decide how she even felt about all of this. upset? sure. angry? of course. the trooper rebellion was exactly the kind of thing that had her join the resistance in the first place. in the last couple of years, with things being more about political moves instead of fighting on a battlefield or in the stars, she had come to a sort of peace. like she could breathe and relax, just for a moment. allies and friends were coming back to join them. hell - leia coming back was huge. cassian too. kaydel had let herself be filled with that optimism that things were looking up.

until they didn't. until it all came crashing down. she cared about kota; everyone did. just because things didn't pan out with them romantically didn't mean that she stopped caring. he helped uncover the revelation that her sister was not only alive, but had been there in the resistance and a friend all along. he was still her friend. so of course the rebellion and his death had stirred up emotions in kaydel. there was still a lot of work to do to take down the first order. and this assignment with nero was only one of the first steps.

his words brought her out of her thoughts. she looked over at him and furrowed her brow. she looked at him for a moment, still trying to get a read on someone she didn't know at all. it was an impossible task for her. so instead she just gave a small smile and a shrug.

" my family is fine. they're alive, at least. but we were a mess since before the war, but that's not anyone's fault really, " she said. " i've been in the resistance since the earliest days. i've lost a lot of friends in battle. friends i consider family, " she turned her head to look at nero then. she knew it would be an unpopular opinion, but she didn't feel right directing the anger she felt towards the first order as a whole onto him solely. he didn't have a choice in the matter, they took away the ability to make those choices from him and all the other troopers. it was the same she felt towards finn when they first met. what mattered now was what he did next.

" but, that's a part of war.. i suppose. still. it's not exactly something they teach you how to deal with in the military academy, " she added with a little scoff.

he chuckled. ❝ not at all, not a cliche. it really doesn't matter, so long as it's healthy. ❞ he crossed his arms a little, thinking to himself for a moment before leaning in. ❝ i think it's twins. i'll bet anything on it. ❞ the odds were just too high! hope's mother was a twin, hope was a twin herself, it would be quite poetic if that pattern continued.

he gave a little nod. deimos wasn't really one for talking about his feelings, so he knew he didn't want to get into it that far, but he appreciated breena's kindness all the same. she was like a sister to him, after all. he felt protective over her and he knew the comfort he felt from her would be enough to get him through.

❝ good, good. if it's not too much stress on them, i'd like to visit them sometime -- if anything to just offer my help, if they needed it. ❞ even though the situation with the iron heart relic that rye had found was mostly comedic more than anything else, deimos considered rye an honorary member of his clan. partially through the connection to breena, but also just because deimos loved rye. the two had connected in a way that neither of them really expected. their friendship was a somewhat quiet one, but deimos deeply cared.

kota nodded. of course they were family, he'd always agreed to that. he felt terrible -- his connections with the others had certainly been damaged since his death. he felt like he didn't see everyone as much as he used to. they didn't come to visit him as much as they used to. probably because it hurt, and kota understood that. he didn't want to hurt the people around him.

he always said it, if he could snap his fingers and fix all the problems of this town, he would do it.

❝ you're taking care of yourself though, right? ❞ he pressed, leaning in a little. ❝ you're not neglecting yourself just because things are a little tough around here. ❞

" yes, yes, of course, " she said with a smile. she'd always be fine. she had to be. " i even had a cup of water... yesterday, " she added while taking a sip of her soda.

nero said nothing to her stupid cliche -- she was right, it did sound lame, but he remembered far back in the past, when he was a child. when his family were his friends, and things felt... actually good. he could see where people would draw that conclusion. having friends did make things feel good, but he just followed that conclusion to its logical next step -- having friends felt good, until they betrayed you, or left you, or died. then it just felt worse.

at least he could imagine so. it hurt when his family died. it was supposed to, at least.

❝ alright, fine. we're friends now. check it off the list. ❞

" that.. mm. we'll work on the friendship thing but at least we agree, " she said with a little shake of her head. " come on, i'll show you around and give you the official tour so you know where to sleep and where to eat at least. "

"Not really," he said with a shrug. "My mother died when I was young and I was raised... in a bar. I was basically spirted by my adoptive father when I was still a kid so... I don't really remember it much." Most of his crews steered clear of Tatooine, whether it was because they hadn't wanted to deal with anyone working there or personal vendettas, there'd been no real reason for him to ever return.

Ander raised an eyebrow, "says the girl who agreed to my batshit plan to try and get her a life." He said.

" hey if anyone's doing any besmirching here, it's you. i totally had a life before i met you, " anya rebuttled. was it a lie? sure. but they didn't have to know that.

he was basically telling nero to go out there and get his ass beat. as an order. ❝ real fine people, you resistance are, ❞ he muttered under his breath before about-facing and leaving the tent.

once they were outside, he barely looked over at kaydel. ❝ i'm supposed to befriend someone. is he joking? ❞

" i know it seems hard and probably impossible , " she said. " but part of what makes life worth living is the friends we have around us. " wow, she sounded like a walking talking cliche. she cringed at her own voice and shook her head. " okay that was lame. forget i said that. " she paused and tried to find the right words. better words. not whatever cliche bullshit she was spitting out for some reason.

" look. we're already going to be spending a lot of time together. it'd make it a lot easier if we were friends too. "

he chuckled a little to himself. ❝ do you think it's a boy or girl? ❞ he wondered.

" i'm not sure. i think a girl would be lovely, " she mused. " is it too cliche to say i don't really care, as long as they're healthy?" she asked with a chuckle.