#bad probably

piik, as it turns out, is a miracle worker.

well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but all of the fetts are so impressed by how nimbly he manages to fix what they’d all determined broken beyond repair. he warns them there’s a lot of work to be done, but fortunately jango and his sons are fast learners.

the clones take turns switching between assisting piik and jango and looking after boba and cyelle. rex in particular has a knack for fixing things, and he beams with pride when piik mentions as much.

“thanks, sir,” rex says politely, saluting piik. piik is a little surprised by the action, but rex appears immediately embarrassed, retracting his hand with lightning speed, so piik just smiles gently at him.

“thank you, rex,” piik says kindly. “your help makes this easier. you think you can take me up to the roof?” rex is more than happy to comply.

jango, meanwhile, takes a moment to himself to plan for other things. within just a few hours, jango trusts piik more than anyone else on concord dawn, and so he doesn’t worry too much about the expansions. what he does worry about is kamino and tyrranus, though he thinks he might have a risky solution to the latter.

jango makes a series of datachips with all the information from kamino he’d gathered, as well as a decent chunk of information on tyrannus. he mentally lists a few hiding places across the galaxy, as well as a couple around the homestead and concord dawn. then he plans to leave the boys for a solo mission. capable as they are, he’s not risking them fighting a sith.

jango finds piik with rex, bly, keeli, and ponds on the roof, walking around and pointing out exactly which rooms would go where. impulsively, he invites piik and cyelle to dinner. piik hesitates.

“alright,” he says, caving into rex’s pleading look. “hope you can cook better than you can rewire a vaporator.”

dinner is pleasant, and yes, of a better quality than jango’s repair work - the boys all seem to like piik, and rex, usually shy with anyone outside the family, asks lots of questions about local tech.

cyelle ends up liking boba, even if he smells sometimes, and keeps up easily with the rowdy clones, even asking to play tag with all of them after dinner. piik reluctantly tells her no, that they have to get home. jango doesn’t miss the disappointment on the boys’ faces.

as they’re leaving, jango thanks piik for his help and assures him he’ll be paid for his labor. jango has a feeling piik is severely undercharging him, but doesn’t bring it up.

“i had another favor to ask, apart from the house,” jango says. “since you’ll be working here, i wondered if you can keep an eye on the boys. i have work to do offworld. if it’s too much, i can com the mins again.” once more, piik hesitates.

“jango, i’m happy to help you. and i’ll make sure your boys are alright, but...” piik trails off, and then seemingly steels himself, his gaze hardening. “look. my wife, cyelle’s mother, she was killed by death watch. lot of folks around here were. i wanna keep things friendly, it’s why i came here in the first place. but trouble follows you, and something tells me it might follow your boys, seeing as they all look a little too much like you, and i have to think of my daughter. what i’m trying to say is, we’re not friends.”

that’s fine. it’s completely fine, of course, because jango isn’t looking for friends. he’s not at all disappointed by the severe look piik is giving him, or embarrassed at his own eagerness. the boys have made him softer, more sociable, that’s all. back to business as usual.

“fine by me,” jango says more easily than he feels. “i won’t have need of you, after the expansions are made.” piik nods.

“glad we could come to an understanding,” piik says. “i’ll be back tomorrow with some supplies.”

he’s right, about the trouble, jango thinks as piik carries his sleeping daughter home. after all, he’s planning on pissing off a sith lord in just a few short days, in hopes of keeping his sons safe. jango’s life has never been a peaceful one. the boys notice his change in demeanor when he reenters the house, and as if in an attempt to cheer him, 36 presents boba to him.

“look!” 36 says happily putting boba down onto the floor, next to a chair. “look, he did something neat, boba, can you do it again?”

boba looks around at his father and the boys in confusion, and then, seemingly in an effort to get away from the staring eyes, grabs at the chair next to him. it takes a few seconds of effort, but then boba is standing on his own.

“good work, bob’ika,” jango says affectionately, sitting down beside the baby and patting his head. he’s never seen the boy stand without the help of himself or his brothers. jango leans back to get a good look at him. “you’ll be running around in no time.” boba stares at his father, and then seems to make a decision.

the baby reaches out with one arm, and then the other, and then, to everyone’s surprise, takes a few tottering steps towards jango until he collapses into his father’s waiting arms. the living room erupts with cheers and a few celebratory curses at boba making his first steps.

boba giggles happily at the congratulations, allowing jango to bounce him up and down, and the other clones join them on the floor in excitement.

“he’s so talented, he learned it from me,” 36 says proudly. “you idiot, we can all walk, he could’ve learned from any of us,” says fox, holding hands with boba as the baby bounces in their father’s lap. “he’s gonna be a little demon, just wait and see, getting into all kinds of trouble,” ponds says fondly, lying beside jango. jango doesn’t know when it became commonplace for all of them to fall into a dogpile in the main room, but he’s not complaining.

“i have to go away for a bit,” jango tells them, allowing boba to crawl over to 24, who is currently holding the boy’s favorite plush in one hand, and is getting into a shoving match with rex for no reason in the other. “alone. piik will check in while he works on the house.”

“why can’t we come?” 24 asks, he and rex stopping their play-fighting for a moment. everyone looks at him expectantly.

“it’s too dangerous,” jango says. the boys open their mouths to argue, but jango holds up a hand. “when i say it’s too dangerous, i mean it. you’re not soldiers anymore, remember? you’re my sons, and i have to think of you first. next time i leave the planet, i’ll bring two of you with me, i promise.”

“but what if something happens to you, buir?” keeli asks in concern. jango reaches out to ruffle his hair fondly.

“then you have five big brothers to look after you and rex and boba,” jango says. “but i don’t intend on letting anything happen to me.”

piik may be right, about him and trouble, but he’ll be damned if he’ll let it follow his boys.