#oc morale

Now off Kamino - finally, Sketch couldn't help from thinking with a chill - and in the Coruscant Guard, they had just gotten their armour painted and dried when they decided they would go to the bar. Morale had informed their Sergeant, Karma, who had seemed nervous about it. Mere minutes after meeting her, Sketch hadn't thought he would ever see her nervous. She had tried to talk them out of it but, realizing how stubborn they were, had asked some of the older vode to go with them.

Sketch had been offended at the thought of Sergeant Karma not trusting him to take care of his squad. He should've listened to her and found something else to do while off shift.

He looked up from the ground when he heard Pillow hiss in pain. Morale was trying to gently examine his right eye, which Sketch could see from where he was standing, was definitely swollen. He wondered if his left eye looked any better, as it was currently throbbing.

"Maybe we should take you both to the medbay," Morale fretted, gaze going back and forth between Sketch and Pillow.

"It'll be a black eye, at worst, Mor'ika. Don't worry about it," Pillow assured him. "Besides," he scoffed, only to flinch a bit, "he barely got me."

Morale bit his lip. "If you say so..."

Ghost sighed, annoyance clear. "Did you have to punch him, Pillow?"

Pillow glared at him. "He deserved it; he was gonna make Morale cry!"

Morale had been so happy for the first half hour at 79's, along with Pillow. Sketch had decided it would be best not to stay too long, as Ghost had been looking overwhelmed and annoyed by the noise. Still, Morale had been excitedly talking about how much he liked being in the Guard, both because of the new vode he'd met and just being off Kamino. Then, a brother in blue armour, likely drunk from how he'd been walking, had come over to their table, only to start hurling insults at Morale himself, the others at the table, and the Coruscant Guard in general. Their youngest had looked ready to cry, Pillow jumping up to throw a punch and Sketch had frozen at the insults - Can you not even protect your squad, pathetic little clone? - and hadn't snapped back until the vod in blue had been aiming another punch at Pillow. Sketch had jumped between them and gotten punched.

At least Sketch was finally doing something to protect his brothers, and a pang in his chest went out to Duke and Trick, who he had continuously failed.

"Sketch?" The oldest of Spark Squad was broken from his thoughts by Morale, whose voice was soft and eyes were wide with worry for him.

Sketch didn't deserve it.

He jerked away when Morale laid a hand on his shoulder. "Go away, Morale."

"Ori'vod-"

"Leave me alone! I just want to be alone right now!” Sketch yelled.

The other three just stared at him, shocked. Sketch almost never lost his cool. He groaned, rising to his feet when the others made no move to leave. He left the barracks, ignoring them calling for him to come back. They would be safe in the Guard headquarters.

He made his way through the headquarters to what he'd heard older troopers call the breakdown closet. Despite his anger and sadness, Sketch wasn't stupid enough to leave the barracks after what happened at 79's.

Ignoring the noise form the training room, Sketch knocked on the closet door. When there was no noise beyond it, he opened it and went inside, barricading the door so no one could disturb him.

Sketch sat down, put his arms on his knees and his head in his hands. Why was he such a fucking failure? He'd had insults hurled at him and his brothers his entire life, why was it only now that he froze like that?

Then, both he and Pillow had gone and gotten into a fight. Fighting wasn't allowed. What was going to happen to them? What punishment would they have to undergo? Sketch inhaled. He didn't want Pillow to go through any pain; Sketch was familiar with the pain that came with punishment, he could handle it. He knew how to take it, but Pillow didn't.

The smack that echoed through the room did nothing to hide the sound of Sketch crying out as the cold, hard instrument struck his arm.

"CT-6759," The trainer intoned, grabbing the young boy's chin to force eye contact. "You are your squad leader; any failure is your fault. You will keep your squad under control. There shall be no more defectiveness."

They had already grabbed Duke, dragging him away kicking and screaming. Sketch knew he would never see him again. He wouldn't let that happen to Pillow, Ghost, or Morale. "Yes sir."

Sketch lost track of how long he was in the closet. Eventually, he unbarricaded the door and opened it. To his surprise, right across from him, was the rest of Spark Squad, fast asleep on the floor. Pillow was leaning against the wall, head tilted back in a way that couldn't be comfortable. Ghost had his head on Pillow's shoulder. Morale was laying with his head on Pillow's lap.

His gaze softened at the sight of them.

3. Do they have any bad habits?

Duke: He placed the lives of everyone is his squad higher than his own and would protect them with little regard for his own life. This is what ultimately led to the Kaminoans decommissioning him.

Sketch: His bad habits only really started to surface after they lost Duke. In order to protect them, Sketch initially started to distance himself to protect them like Duke had, but they refused to let Sketch have the same fate as him. He also tends to hide things from the others to keep them safe. This last one only really became a problem once he got to the Guard, but his lack of trust in authority figures (including brothers sometimes) meant he didn't respond well to the squad having to take orders from higher Guard members. He gets better, though.

Pillow/Throwpillow: When he starts to feel emotions like fear and sadness, he doesn't like dealing with them as they're presented, so he lashes out in anger instead. He's, uh - he's working on it. The other bad habit he has developed once he was with the Guard; he would snap his finger when calling someone over to him. He associates this with being a bad habit because he spent a lot of time with asshole senators who do this and he accidentally picked it up.

Ghost: His only really bad habit is getting lost in his head. If he feels like his insecurities are getting the best of him, he kinda shuts down or becomes sullen and moody.

Morale: Similar to Pillow, he doesn't really like dealing with emotions deemed 'negative'. Instead of anger, though, he buries those 'negative' emotions, covering them up with a happy facade and refusing to acknowledge the underlying issue. His only other bad habit started after he lost the other three while in the Guard: he started having trouble with alcohol. He was working on it, especially once he tried taking on the 'ori'vod' role to a shiny, but then, you know, Order 66 happened. :)

32. What's the most valuable thing in their possession?

Sketch: One valuable thing is a picture he drew after they lost Duke of their entire squad. Otherwise, just his art supplies.

Duke: Besides little drawings from Sketch, he didn't live long enough get something.

Pillow/Throwpillow: The picture Sketch drew of their squad is really the only valuable thing he wants or needs.

Ghost: The picture Sketch drew of their squad is one valuable thing to him. The other was a stuffed massiff given to him by Sergeant Hound.

Morale: The picture Sketch drew of their squad is one valuable thing to him. The other would have to be his datapad. It's where he has messages from his brothers saved and pictures he's taken with them all.

I have an old mutual who drew the picture I'm talking about and sent it to me. I don't feel comfortable posting it on here without her permission, but if you'd like to see it, Terra, message me on here or Discord and I can show it to you.

8. Which OC prefers flowing clothes? Tight clothes?

Honestly, I think all of them would prefer flowing clothes over tight clothes. Tight clothes restrict their movement too much. Pillow likes flowing clothes the most, though. He spends a lot of time training and flowing clothes are more comfortable. Amber wears tight clothes more than any of them, but it's only when he goes to a bar.

12. What OC is the best at dealing with stress? How do they deal with it?

As he gets older, definitely Ghost. He's able to step back from a stressful situation, do something to relax (take care of his hair or cuddle with the massiffs), and then come back with a clear head.

23. Which OC dog ears pages? Which OC thinks that’s an ABOMINATION?

Both Coral and Pillow dog ear pages; Coral because it's quicker and Pillow does it to piss off Sketch and Ghost, who hate it when pages are ruined.

34. Which OC is chronically online?

Morale sighed happily as he laid back on his towel atop the sand, warm sunshine shining down upon him allowing him to doze of a bit. He could hear Throwpillow in the distance, playing some game with other vode that had once been in the Guard. He could hear water splashing and knew that Ghost was swimming. He could feel Sketch's presence close by as his older batchmate sat under an umbrella, drawing to his hearts content.

They had always talked, in the dark and quiet of night, about getting to do something fun when - if - the war ever ended, and they were finally getting the chance to.

He only wished Duke and Trick could have gotten to experience it with them.

Morale jolted up from his dozing when he heard multiple vode screaming from the direction of where Throwpillow had been. He ran over, Sketch right beside him. Looking around, Morale's heart stopped when he saw Throwpillow laying on the ground, blood quickly leaving his mouth.

He and Sketch knelt beside. "Pillow, what's wrong?" Morale asked, frantic as he gently moved his brother so he was laying on his side.

Pillow tried to speak, but he only managed to choke on his own blood. Morale kept a hand on him, trying to comfort him.

Before he had the chance to yell at Sketch to go and get an actual medic - where did all of the other vode go? - Sketch yelled first.

"GHOST!" his oldest squadmate shouted at the top of his lungs, running towards the water.

Morale turned in the direction of the water, only to see Ghost getting pulled away from the sandy shore and having trouble staying above the water.

He watched in horror as Sketch was unable to help, quickly succumbing to the waves with Ghost. Trying not to panic, Morale looked between them and Throwpillow, who was no longer choking and seemed to be breathing steadily.

Decision made, Morale rushed to the water. He pushed away the brief confusion he felt - Why were they having trouble swimming? They had grown up on Kamino. Where had the waves come from? - and tried to make his way to his brothers.

Morale managed to grab onto Ghost's arm and began to pull him back to shore. He didn't make any distance before Ghost yanked Morale backwards, pulling the youngest into his arms and holding on tight.

"Where are you going, Mor'ika?" Ghost asked and Morale froze. Ghost's voice sounded dead.

He turned to stare at his brother, not noticing the water around them calming down. A hand pressed down on his head and Morale looked at Sketch. "You should stay here with us, Morale."

When he tried to struggle out of Ghost tight, cold grip, another pair of arms wrapped around him. "It's so much better here, Mor'ika," he heard Thorwpillow rasp. "It's so much better here."

Then, the arms around him yanked him down.

Morale fought as hard as he could to stay above the water, kicking at whatever part of his not-brothers he could reach. He barely comprehended yelling for help or the splashing water.

He just barely heard the shout of, "Morale!"

A scream tore its way from his throat when the arms around him tightened so much that Morale felt like he was having the life squeezed out of him. "Morale, wake up!"

He was pulled beneath the surface of the freezing cold water. "Morale!"

Morale shot up from his bunk, narrowly missing hitting his head on the bunk he was sleeping under - Sketch's bunk.

"Mor'ika?" a soft voice asked form beside him.

Frantic eyes turned to the nervous form of Zoom. "W-what?"

"D-did you have a nightmare?" Zoom asked, hesitant.

A pang went through Morale's chest. He wasn't sure what was worse; the image of all four of them, living happily after the war or the cold, dead arms of his brothers pulling him beneath the freezing water. He shivered.

Morale exhaled, collapsing back onto his pillow. "Yeah, I did."

There was silence for a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The urge laugh struck him; if he could count on anything, it would be Zoom's awkward attempts to help. Except, he couldn't count on that, not anymore. He couldn't count on anything.

"No, it's fine," he replied. "I don't remember much of it anyway."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zoom nod in acceptance. Morale didn't want to look closely in Zoom's direction - towards Throwpillow and Ghost's bunks.

"You know," Zoom started, "this is the fifth time this has happened."

Morale suppressed a snort. Of course he fucking knew. Over the past two days since his squadmates' not coming home - deaths - Morale had been awoken from nightmares. It was just getting worse.

"You could maybe try talking to Coral? I know he's dealt with grief before and maybe he could help," Zoom continued.

This time, Morale did laugh. It wasn't nice, not like his usual laugh filled with happiness and optimism. But then, nothing about him would be usual anymore; not without Sketch, Throwpillow, and Ghost by his side.

"Coral won't be able to do shit, Zoom," Morale spat out, bitter. "I can't even get out of bed in the morning."

He wasn't exaggerating. After seeing off his brothers' bodies and Commander Fox allowing Morale to sleep in his bed for comfort, one of the medics had had to move Morale to his own the next day. He hadn't been able to get up since, not wanting to see the room that had him remembering his brothers at every single possible moment.

Morale felt like nothing would be okay anymore. He felt so heavy and so tired. He kind of wished Zoom had let his dead brothers drag him under the freezing water.

Turning over on his bunk, facing away from him, Morale said, "Just leave me alone, Zoom. You've got a shift in a couple of hours."

There was a minute of nothing happening. He thought Zoom was going to press the issue - part of Morale hoped he would, another part of him was convinced he would punch anyone who tried to get him to talk - but ultimately, Morale heard Zoom climb back into the bunk he was sleeping in. Ghost's old bunk. He forced himself to push away the anger; it wasn't Zoom's fault where he'd been told to sleep.

Morale reached underneath his pillow to grab three things; Pillow's datapad, Ghost's stuffed massiff, and the picture Sketch had drawn of their entire squad when they were young cadets.

He felt tears well up in his eyes. He'd never get another drawing from Sketch. He'd never see Pillow researching food late at night. He'd never see Ghost cuddling his stuffed massiff while saying he hated the thing.

7. What things in real life make you think of an OC?

I answered this question for Spark Squad here, so I'll do Amber for this one.

Amber: Any time I talk to someone named Amber, I have to restrain myself from going crazy and scaring them away. Also, any kind of gem/jewel, even though it's fake. It causes me to think of why he chose the name Amber - it means precious jewel, which is how he thinks of himself.

8. Is there a certain song or playlist of songs you have that make you think of an OC/your story for them?

There is NOT any playlists or songs for my OCs, but I really want to do one. Once I have the time, I'll dedicate some time to making a playlist of songs that remind me of them. You'll probably be the first one I show it to. xD

12. Which OC is most likely to kill somebody?

Pretty much any of them, depending on their motives. Out of all of them, Amber's motives will make it more likely for him to kill someone, indirectly or not. Let's not forget what happened to Moon. F in the chat for him.

13. Which OC do you make art/media with the most?

7. What things in real life make you think of an OC?

Sketch: Two things for this guy. One is my older brother, because he always tries to do what is best for me and takes his role as my older sibling very seriously. The second is whenever my Mum and I go to an art store, I'll always end up browsing the drawing supplies and thinking, "Sketch would love this!"

Duke: Also my older brother. The intensity and levels he would go to for his brothers always makes me think of my brother.

Pillow/Throwpillow: Exercise and foods classes. Pillow is very enthusiastic about working out and later becomes interested in foods from different cultures, so whenever I do something along those lines, I dedicate a thought to him.

Ghost: Dogs. My introverted boy is very much an animal, specifically dog, person. He feels they understand him better than most people.

Morale: For Morale, I'd have to say the online games I used to play when I was growing up. A lot of them have really good stories that I think he'd love and they're not too challenging.

17. Who is your favourite OC?

Wow, this is a mean question. xD If I had to pick and I could only choose one, it would have to be Morale. All the others in Spark Squad were originally created to just be Morale's dead older brothers - as a matter of fact, in my first one-shot with their appearance, all of them except Morale were already dead. Of course, I did start developing them later on, but Morale will always hold a special place in my heart because he's the first on I wrote for.

30. Which OC has been the hardest to develop/design so far?