Maybe We're Done Hiding

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.❞

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.