#currently blushing

This playful goose chase had been going on for the past twenty minutes. Commander Vale was starting to feel exhausted, but he still had a mischievous clone kid to catch.

Earlier that day, Vale’s adopted clone trooper son, Arlo, kept begging him to do something fun with him as he was bored. Vale tried to assure Arlo that he would have time for fun later as he still had a bunch of “boring adult data pads” to fill out. But Arlo was impatient. He had been itching to spend some quality time together with his surrogate father ever since his dad’s team came back from another long mission fighting the scary Sith Lord Inquisitor he heard the other troopers talk about.

But that always made Arlo confused because he could’ve sworn he heard his father sigh fondly at the Inquisitor’s profile picture on the monitors. And the way he sometimes talked about her to his Jedi best friend, Tarquin, it almost sounded like he…liked her?

Whatever the kriff Vale had going on with that Sith Lord was none of his business. All Arlo cared about was catching up with his space papa, and hopefully getting to do something fun with him.

But when all his pouting, whining, and even fake tears didn’t work, Arlo huffed to himself. How was he supposed to feel like he had a dad if Vale could never have time for him anymore?

As Arlo paced around the Rebellion base, looking for something to do, a rare streak of mischief suddenly struck him. It orbited around his head like a TIE fighter, the way all great ideas do. Certainly this particular playful idea wouldn’t go unnoticed by Vale.

And so, here was where the cheeky little clone was at; currently being chased by his not-so-pleased father. Arlo decided it would be hilarious to not only snag his papa’s com link and impersonate him on the team’s channel, but to also decorate his helmet with stick on googly eyes and glittery stickers.

The wild goose chase continued; Arlo hopping over tables and any other obstacles while Vale was starting to lose his breath at this point. How in the Galaxy was this kid able to outrun him with all of Vale’s experience chasing opponents and being chased by enemies that were much bigger than him? Being out-runned by a small clone trooper kid wasn’t the best look for his reputation.

If this kid is going to tire me out by having me chase him all day, then I better tire him out first! Vale thought. But how? Every breathless threat he threw at him just made Arlo giggle more. Obviously, he wasn’t going to take him seriously in this position. Unless…

Arlo skidded to a stop, laughing at his breathless panting father yards behind him. “Haha! You can’t even keep up!”

“Maybe…not…right now, but…in a few seconds…you won’t be able to run anymore.”

“Huh?” Arlo tilted his head like a curious tooka. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means…” Vale slowly lifted his head, revealing the devilish grin. He flexed his fingers, wiggling them like claws. “You have ten seconds to run before I catch you! And if I do catch you, then…” he wiggled his fingers again.

That was Arlo’s cue to take off running again. Except this time, he wasn’t running as fast or feeling so confident anymore. He knew that look, far too well. He should’ve expected Vale to resort to that for his prank. But did he really want to get away that badly? Maybe. But maybe not too much?

“…Then stop running!”

“Nohoho!”

“Arlo!”

“Get awahahay! I know what you’re going to do!”

“Then why are you still running?”

“‘Cause you keep chahahasing me!”

A couple times, Vale almost succeeded in grabbing the smaller clone, but he purposely let him slip past his hands at the last second to keep the game going. He had to admit, he didn’t want this playful moment to end so quickly. The work he needed to finish on the data pad was important, but not as important as this right now.

After a few more turns, Arlo hit a dead end. He frantically whipped around, but his only exit escape was blocked by Vale. He was trapped.

As a last resort, he shakily held out his hands in defense as Vale cornered him. Vale raised an eyebrow. “You really think that’s going to stop me?”

Arlo giggled nervously. “Mahahaybe?”

Vale just shook his head and made a grab for the small boy. Arlo shrieked as he was hoisted up and tossed over Vale’s shoulder. He kicked his legs and pounded his little fists against Vale’s back. “Puhut me dohohown!”

“Oh sure, I’ll put you down,” Vale said, entering his own quarters. He dumped Arlo unceremoniously onto the bed. “All right, spill it.”

“W-Whahat?” Arlo sat up.

“What’s this wild chase really about, hm? You don’t usually pull these kinds of shenanigans unless you’re with your teammates—which you aren’t right now. So what’s up?”

Arlo fell quiet. “Well…I don’t know.”

“C’mon, try me.”

The little clone sighed. “Okay…I guess because I just wanted to spend time with you. Y’know, fun time like we used to do. I know you have your missions and other teammates to think about, but you always had time for me in the end. And um…” he twiddled his fingers, voice getting soft. “Now that you seem to be fangirlingover that Sith Inquisitor lately…you always seem too busy for me.”

Vale could feel his cheeks suddenly grow warm. He rubbed at his neck, trying to mask his awkwardness with a cough. “Arlo, listen. I’m not ‘fangirling’ if that’s what you’re thinking. She’s a Sith Lord. It’s my job to track her down whenever she tries to spread her Galactic Empire disease on other planets.”

Arlo huffed. “You stare at her profile picture every time on the monitors! And I’ve heard you tell Tarquin about that ‘sparkly look in her eyes’ she gives you. What’s that even about?”

Vale rubbed his temples. He had to start locking the doors to keep his nosy kid from eavesdropping. “Ugh, Arlo…that’s none of your concern right now. And in the future, I’d appreciate it if you don’t eavesdrop on things you don’t understand at this age. But back to you. You really think because of my missions, I’m not going to spend time with you anymore?”

Arlo shrugged. Vale’s gaze saddened. He pulled the smaller clone into his lap for a hug. “Hey, I’m not going anywhere, alright kiddo? No matter how messed up the galaxy gets or whatever missions I get called for, I’ll never ever forget you. You’re my ad’ika. Nothing could ever be as important as you, son.”

“You promise?”

“I promise. Cross my heart, and hope to fly, stick a lightsaber in my eye.”

They touched foreheads, enjoying the warm snuggly embrace in silence. Until Vale broke that silence. “You know, I still have to get you back for those pranks, right?”

Arlo’s eyes widened. “W-What?! No you don’t!”

“Oh, yes I do.” Vale’s grip on him tightened.

“C’mon! I thought we just talked it out!”

“Oh, we did. But a stunt like that towards me does not go unpunished!”

“Nohoho!” Arlo managed to wriggle out of Vale’s grip, and made a mad dash to the door. He would’ve made it out if Vale hadn’t leaped forward and grabbed his ankles, dragging him back into the room. Arlo desperately tried to claw his way out as he was dragged backwards, like someone in a horror movie fighting for their life against some horrible monster or creature.

He shrieked as he was tossed onto the bed again. Vale didn’t waste anymore time and dug his fingers into his kid’s sides.

Arlo squealed. “EeeEEEEEHEEheheee! No! Nohoho! Nohohot fair!”

“What, would you rather have me move up…here?” Vale moved his hands higher to tase at the smaller clone’s ribs. “This better?”

“AAAAHEeeheeAAAhahahaaaa!! Ihihit’s nAAAhat! Thahahat’s soho much wo—HAAAHA—worse!!”

This wasn’t anything like the usual gentle playful tickles Vale gave him. Like the soft pokes to the side whenever Arlo was getting frustrated at target shooting practice, or the playful scribbles to his stomach or feet to get him to go to bed. No, this was a whole other level of intensity!

Vale kept clawing at his rib cage, making sure to scratch in between each bone and even knead at his back ribs. It was just maddening.

“NAAAAHEEAAAHahaaahaAAAA!! N-Nohoho wait!! Wa—HEEEAAAAHAHA!! WaHAHAHAIT!! HeheHEEAAAHEEEEHEE!! NAHAHAHO!! EEEEEEEHEEHEEEEE!!”

It couldn’t possibly get any worse than this, right?

Apparently, it could. Because Vale suddenly switched tactics, shoving one hand under Arlo’s arm and forming a claw with his other hand, vibrating it right into his tummy.

Arlo arched his back with a loud squeal-screech.

“HEEEEAAAAAHEAHAAAAAHAAA!! NAHAHAHAAAAAA!! V-VALE!! VAHAAAALE!! NAHAHAHAO!! That’s….that’s—EEEEEK!! EEEEEEHAAAAAHEEEEHEEHEHEEE!!”

“Hm? It’s what?” Vale innocently asked, as if he wasn’t physically torturing his kid right now. Instead of letting him answer, Vale finished it off by shoving the boy’s shirt up, and blowing a long fat raspberry directly against his belly button.

Arlo screamed. “NAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAAEEEEEAAAAA!!” He frantically kicked his legs out and started instinctively pulling on his dad’s hair.

Vale lifted his head, wincing. “Ow! Ow! Okay, heh, I think you’ve had enough for one night. Can you let go now?”

Arlo let his arms collapse against the bed as he panted heavily. “You…that was…that was torture..!”

Vale grinned, ruffling the clone boy’s hair. “Consider it a lesson of what happens when you prank your commanding officer. And, also remembering how much I love you, ad’ika. I love you more than all the stars in the galaxy.”

Arlo felt his heart soar. He happily glomped Vale in a soft tackle hug. “I love you too, Dad! More than all the blue milk and Mantel Mix in the entire galaxy!”

Vale chuckled and squeezed him a little tighter. “Now then, let’s get you to bed. I bet you must pretty tired after all that running and laughing.”

Arlo tapped his chin in thought. “Actually…I’m not. ‘Cause you got me thinking about blue milk and Mantel Mix now!”

Vale rolled his eyes. “Ohhh no, you are not eating either of that stuff right now.”

“Aww why not?”

“Why no—because if you eat any Mantel Mix or blue milk, you’re going to be hyper for the next couple hours and you need to sleep.”

“Hmph…what if I just have half a cup of blue milk and just a handful of Mantel Mix?” The boy gave pleading eyes that rivaled a tooka’s.

“No, Arlo!”

“Hey, don’t we keep some in the lounge room?”

“Arlo…”

“I remember now! You and Tarquin hide it in the very back of the cupboards!”

“Arlo!”

The small clone simply stuck his tongue out and raced out of the room, giggling, “Can’t stop me now!”

Vale shook his head with a sigh and a smile. He got up and ran after his boy. Looks like he was going to have to give him an extra long tickling to fully tire him out tonight.

…And find a new hiding place for the blue milk and Mantel Mix.