#commander grades

Written for @swpromptsandasks

Thought it would be fun to write our Jedi and Clone OCs having a hang out.

It had started out as a fairly simple suggestion.

“We should be friends because our boys are friends and it’ll be easier for them to have play dates if they can use us as the excuse,” Jaylah had said, grinning broadly while Knight Moddy looked at her like she’d lost her mind. They’d at least known of each other for a while, but never crossed paths naturally. Knight Moddy was one of the few people Jay didn’t immediately grab and hug, but that was for Moddy’s comfort, not Jay’s. Jay was tactile as they came.

“You think this is a good idea?” Moddy asked.

Jay had grinned out her brightest smile. “What could go wrong?”

Truthfully, Jay knew a lot could go wrong. But she was stubborn and had planned the ‘date’ as if all would go well.

Moddy was small, with what Jaylah called fuzzy blonde hair. She was fairly pale (looking even more so next to Jaylah’s warm brown skin), with a set of scars across one eye, leaving it white and unseeing. The other eye was a fiery green that had always intrigued Jaylah, though Moddy’s prohibition on touch had made Jaylah stay away.

Jaylah was taller. She was taller than her troopers by a full two inches. She was slender, but hard with muscle from years of training. Her hair was thick and she like many of the Mousintaka kept it in tight braids. Mousintaka were humanoids who grew feathered whiskers as well as hair. The whiskers were bendy and strong, but like lekku hurt terribly if they were injured. Braiding and hair wrapping protected the whiskers, and the white feathers matched the natural white hair of the people.

Jaylah was two generations removed from Mousinta and her grandfather apparently had bright red hair. She didn’t have the feathers, and her hair was a red-brown, but she kept the tradition of braiding. Even braided, the whiskers were sensitive to the force and the universe around them. Mousintaka felt very strongly.

They picked Moddy’s rooms to meet in, which Strata told Jay Snow had approved of. Strata had been very happy, and Jay wouldn’t deny him anything if she could help it. But war and circumstances made it so Strata barely got anything he wanted.

But Snow was Strata’s friend. Outside of the 1287th, Strata rarely got a chance to interact with other Clones much. The 1287th tended to be field agents. They didn’t see the action that the 212th or the 501st did, but they often held the line while units transitioned in and out. As Strata said, the 1287th was family, but friends were different.

It didn’t help that Strata was a Captain. Being an officer put you above those in your command. He wasn’t alone. Grades was his Commander and Jaylah was his General. But that was different too. Their very silent marriage had assured to that. They were friends and lovers and brothers in arms. But Strata deserved friends outside of them.

So Jaylah was determined to make this work no matter how weird or awkward it would be.

At least that had been the plan. Jedi Knight Jaylah Kryze was a bombastic woman, but she knew the value of silence. Her stealth kills were points to that. But silence was for work. She never really indulged in it outside of that. So it surprised her how content she felt there on Moddy’s couch.

They weren’t not talking per say, but it wasn’t really a full conversation. Strata had picked a couple of models from a toy store, thinking that it would be slightly less destructive than the types of pranks and mischief he and Snow favored. But they were so bad at it that it was hilarious to watch. Both woman would laughed and whisper some comment and munch on the popcorn Moddy provided, watching their boys with rapt attention as if they were the most interesting holodrama.

Neither woman were touching. The bowl of popcorn was between them. But they were close, and that made Jay’s heart swell. It helped that Grades was leaning against her shoulder, and she could occasionally get in a little head rub.

Strata and Snow painted quite a picture. Strata had a youth to him, a lot in his smile, which always held trouble. He had twisting tattoos on his face, more organic in design than the tech-based tattoos a lot of his brothers chose. Both wrapped from his temple, near his eyes and down to the apples of his cheeks. His hair was long and worn with about six plaited braids. They were a nod to his General as were the orange and purple threads. The one silver clip was for Grades. Neither of the other two wore outward signs of their marriage.  

Snow was older, with pure white hair and bright gold eyes. Jaylah has seen how serious and untouchable Snow could look in the field. But at home, with only his Knight and his friend, Snow melted. He looked at Strata with warmth and a tiny bit of awe. The same awe Strata returned in his gaze.

“They’re like podlings,” Grades whispered into Jaylah’s ear. Jaylah grinned. Of the three clones, Grades was the oldest. He’d gone out on one of the first missions post Geonosis. His entire unit but him and died in a literal fire fight. The left side of his face had burn scars. Part of his hair wouldn’t grow back because of it, so he kept his hair shaved. Jaylah loved petting his shiny head.

“What did he say?” Moddy whispered on her other side.

“They act like podlings,” Jaylah whispered back.

Moddy started to giggle. Jay was going to blame the giggling and not that she hadn’t whispered quietly enough for why Snow whipped his head around and looked at them

“It see it’s snuggle time,” Snow announced gravely. Jay could practically feel Grades roll his eyes. They’d been on the sofa like that for over an hour. Grades had even finished the first datapad he’d brought with him.

“Oh, I wanna be a part of snuggle time!” Strata said. He jumped up from the table and practically bounced over to them. He sprawled himself across Grades and Jay, laying his head in Jay’s lap, with most of his body over Grades’ legs.

“You’re too big to be a lothkitten,” Grades grumbled, but he started rubbing Strata’s back instantly. Strata gave his best imitation of purr, which was admittedly pretty bad.

Jay shook her head and started to pet Strata’s hair. Out of the corner of her eyes she caught movement and turned her head enough to get a good look. Snow had slipped away and returned with a big fluffy blanket. He wrapped it around Moddy before he settled on the sofa next to her. She snuggled right into him like she belonged there, her head pressed against his shoulder. Snow’s hand found her hair, petting and stroking.

“Need me to hand you popcorn?” Jay offered.

“Only if you want to put in my mouth,” Moddy said with a small laugh.

“You are a bit of a furry burrito,” Jay teased. She settled back in her seat and let all tension drain out of her body. They weren’t going to talk about whatever they had between their boys. It wasn’t safe to do so.