#swwriting

Maul is a bold and forward character. He won't allow others to make him feel small or inferior. So, he expect his partner to be the same - lift him up, excite and arouse him, and sometimes, challenge him.

Maul is father flirtatious, with the right person. He's not raunchy, or crude. He can be cheeky at times, sure, but rarely when others can overhear his flirtatious remarks.

He wants you all for himself. No sharing. No wandering eyes. If you're going to commit to him, then you have to commit to him, and him alone, and he'll do the same with you.

Maul isn't one for riches and jewels. He's not going to spend thousands of credits on jewellery that you'll never wear. Maybe an odd item here or there, but he'd rather spend those credits on things you actually need/want; new clothes, repairs, etc.

Maul isn't one for a quickie, or making love in an uncomfortable place. You won't be hooking up in a storage cupboard with him!

Silk sheets, dim lighting, plenty of foreplay, safe word at the ready if either of you need it.

This man had a fantastic vocabulary range, is well-mannered, stands tall and proud… why would he rush things for a quickie in the cockpit? Or during a time when he can't relax, and enjoy you for hours on end?

To nobody's surprise, Maul can purr. It's not something he can do on demand, nor does he often notice that he's doing it. It's just a natural reaction that kicks in whenever he feels truly safe and content, usually as he's drifting off to sleep.

Maul is a giver. Yes, he likes receiving, but you're the one person who he feels this intimate bond with, so he's going to ensure that he keeps you happy, and satisfies all of your needs.

His main love language is physical touch. To go all these years alone, then finding you? He won't be too public about it, minus resting his hand on your lower back every so often, but behind closed doors, Maul is grabby and attentive.

His horns aren't as sensitive as people assume. They're just bone, after all. It's nice to run your fingertips around them, but please don't grab onto them like he's some kind of bull!

Markings are a sign of possession, which Maul enjoys. Not intense bruises or whip marks! Hickeys, light scratches from his horns or nails. You're more than welcome to leave them on him too, if you can find the space through his heavily tattooed body.

And he doesn't care if others notice them. It probably won't take long for others to realise that you two are an item, especially given how protective Maul is over you.

Protective, not possessive. You are your own person, after all, and Maul finds it amusing when someone steps out of line, and attempts to flirt with you.

Cut to a looming shadow over your shoulder with piercing orange eyes. Yeah, they're not going to attempt flirting with you ever again.

Maul is quite the cuddler, especially after sex. He's not clingy, but he enjoys having you in his arms, or vice versa. This is the time when he'll babble on about present things on his mind, usually 'work' related.

He's already quite open with you, but this is the open door for you to push ideas in his direction, and really assist him through his quiet pleas for support.

Overall, he's very patient and attentive. However, there's a high bar to reach if he's interested in you. He won't settle, especially for someone who doesn't meet his needs, or life goals.

In a life full of chaos, misery, desperation, hatred, Maul needs someone who can ground him. A firm, yet gentle word whenever he's going overboard, or a hand to cling onto when times are tough.

Thankfully you came into the cockpit, breaking Omega’s disappointed look. You were adjusting your own winter coat and holding a knitted hat that was identical to the one on your head. The little girl turned to you so you could put the hat on her, it was a little big for her but it was better than nothing.

“Don’t forget this, I don’t want your ears freezing off.”

“It’s cozy!” She beamed up at you. 

It fell down onto her eyes. You fixed it for her before lowering to her height to help her with her boots.

“Hunter says he’s not coming!” Omega said with a little sass, something she gets from either you or Tech.

Your eyes darted up to the clone instantly, “Aw, really?”

“Please come with us! We’re going to see the Life Day market!” Omega was begging at this point now.

“Everyone else is already in town, we’re going to meet them there. You should come.”

He had his hesitations. Sometimes Life Day celebrations consisted of a lot of noise and a lot of strong smells. He remembers this one time where The Batch had been stationed on a planet around this time, back during the clone wars, where this one specific spice smell from some dish the locals had made stuck in his senses for days. It was sharp and strong, turning sour in his mind. Due to that, he had always been careful every cycle.

“Not really my thing.” He shrugged.

You gave him a look that was so soft, your eyebrows drawing together and the hint of a frown on your lips. “Hunter, it’s Life Day. A time for family. We want you there. We need our leader.”

It was like you understood. And it made his heart skip a beat for a second. 

“And there’s snow! Hunter, there’s snow! I want to play in the snow!”

Hunter thought about it for a second. He looked between the two of you. The spark of hope in Omega’s eyes. The soft look on your face. The winter clothes you two were wearing, out of the setting he was used to seeing you both in. Out of the battlefield and chaos for once, an image of peace.

He really could not say no.

“Alright.”

“Yay!” Omega cheered, and jumped to grab Hunter’s hand, “hurry and put on your gear! I wanna play outside!”

“Okay okay, I’ll meet you both outside. Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Serg.” You giggled, giving him a gentle smile.

~~~

Hunter had put on his gear for cold weather and came out of the ship to see an adorable sight. You and Omega were laughing and chasing each other around to pelt each other with snowballs. It warmed his heart. But he was sure that you both would get cold quickly if you kept it up. After he broke up the little fight, the three of you were off towards the town. 

Omega was skipping along, kicking around the snow as she went, and basically leading the way with her excitement. She was way ahead of you and Hunter. The two of you walked side by side comfortably, watching Omega play in the soft powder. 

“You’ll be fine, Hunter.”

Your words made him look at you. He saw the warmth on your face from the kiss of the cold, spreading from your cheeks to your nose. Your smile had never left your face. It made him forget some of his worries.

“I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s going to be fun, you’re gonna love it.”

“Probably not as much as her,” Hunter gestured towards the little girl in the snow.

“Oh, no one is going to love it more than Omega.” You laughed.

“There it is!” Omega shouted back to you both, running back to grab your hands and pull you along. “Come on come on come on! It’s so pretty!”

The town was decorated in colorful lights and decorations that were too beautiful, all topped with snow on the buildings and blanketed everywhere else. Red and green and gold and white everywhere, shapes of tress and flowers and snowflakes and stars. There were stands selling food and treats and things for presents. Locals and visitors dressed for the weather and with their families. And it was beginning to snow again, large fluffy flakes falling and looking like hyperspace.

Hunter had to admit that it was very pretty.

“Tech said they take the holiday very seriously here.” You mentioned.

“He wasn't kidding.” Hunter remarked.

Omega was already running off somewhere and you went to chase her. But you saw the hesitation is Hunter’s steps. You turned to him and took his hand in yours. Your gloved hand was warm in this cold, physically and emotionally for him.

“Come on, we’re gonna lose her.”

As you pulled him along, he grew more comfortable. Just the feeling of holding your hand grounded him. He fell into step with you.

Omega had found a stand that was selling something warm in a cup, its steam coming up and dancing into the cold air. She wanted one and so did you. It smelled too good, like a rich and deep chocolate that reminded you of the holiday. You paid for three cups. The vendor handed them out to you from a big pot over a fire, sprinkling in little puffs of white as well. 

Omega felt it warm her chilled fingers through her mittens.

“Do not burn yourself,” you warned, “it’s not fun.”

“I’m careful.” Omega blew on her drink before taking a sip.

Hunter looked down into his cup and watched the chocolate and white pieces swirl around. He gave it a sniff. No strong or sour spice. So he tried some. And he loved it. The warmth of it went down and mixed with the other warm feeling that was building inside of him, one of contentment. 

“It’s delicious!” Omega said.

“It sure is.” Hunter replied.

You had basically lead Hunter and Omega through the market, showing them things through the stands and telling stories about your past holidays. Omega listened with joy and eagerness, asking questions all the time and wanting to see everything that there was. Hunter watched you guide her, letting her learn and explore. 

One moment stuck out in his mind, and he thought that he would remember it forever. You had bought Omega a scarf from one of the clothing vendors. Kneeling down to her height, you had wrapped it around her. She told you thank you, for the scarf and taking her to the market, and leaped into your arms for the biggest hug. It lasted, it was full of love. Hunter’s heart exploded. 

It was at that moment he realized, seeing you love and care for his little sister, that he had feelings for you. Ones that he never noticed before, or let himself bury deep down. But in a beautiful sight and setting like this, he let himself feel it. 

There is only one thing Han loves more than the Falcon, and that’s you. So travelling the stars on his ship with his favourite girl? He’s living the dream.

Life with him is unpredictable and dangerous, what with all the smuggling, but he’s just happy he found someone who was able to keep up with him and Chewie. You love it.

He pretends not to be, but he’s a big sappy romantic on the inside. He often goes out of his way to buy you nice gifts from the local markets whenever you stop to refuel and repair the Falcon.

You keep telling him he doesn’t have to and that he should save his credits, but he just kisses you which is an (annoyingly) effective way to stop you talking.

“Just a small token of my affection, sweetheart.”

Speaking of affection – Han is never afraid to show his love for you physically.

He likes to pull you into his lap whenever you’re in the cockpit with him, kissing your forehead, cheeks and finally your lips all while mumbling soft declarations of his love.

That’s not to say you don’t have your fair share of bumps in your relationship, of course.

On more than one occasion, Han has gotten irritated and worked up while doing repairs on the Falcon (a regular occurrence) and snapped at you. After which you end up locking yourself in your shared quarters while he storms off to the cockpit for an hour or so.

Eventually, after a push from Chewie, Han finds himself gently knocking on the door to your quarters.

“Hey, uh, I’m…” he runs a hand through his hair, his voice heavy with guilt. “I’m real sorry for snapping at you, doll. I…I didn’t mean to.”

You want to stay mad at him but he sounded so damn guilty. So you sigh and open the door, finding him stood in the corridor looking all sheepish – like a little kid who’s been told off by his parents.

Apologies start spilling from his lips clumsily, until you silence him by stepping forward and taking his face in your hands.

“Would you shut up? I forgive you, you big idiot.”

He stands there stunned for a moment. “You’re…not mad?”

“I was. But then you were stood out here looking like a lost Tooka and I found it difficult to stay mad at you.”

He smiles that stupid cute smile of his, and you lean up to give him a quick kiss.

 The war, the republic, the jedi all have ended. Literally on the same day. And what it seemed like a fresh start, finally a moment of peace in the chaos turned into nightmares. You weren’t there when it happened, you just heard the news of Obi-Wan saying the jedi order and the republic had fallen and you also heard the now Emperor Palpatine telling everyone that the clone wars has ended and the jedi were traitor, they’ve tried to assassinate him according to well… himself. And now he’s forming this new galactic empire, giving people numbers like the ones clones used to have and killing off any resistance against this new order. Everyone seemed to believe him, you gotta give him that he was a pretty damn’ good  liar indeed. But you knew better than that. You are mandalorian after all and were friends with no one less than Duchess Satine and Senator Padmé. You helped them countless times in their diplomatics and you even fought with the jedi and the clones at times. They were good people, yes, the order might have messed up at lot but traitors? Murders? They sure didn’t deserve to die like that and I guess… No one does.

  You quickly then joined the rebellion. There you found many of former politics like Senator Organa and even a clone… Captain Rex (or is it Commander now?). You’ve met him once before and he seemed like a good person and looks like he’s really a great man just like you thought. You soon became friends. But sadly, the other clones you knew before like Cody were still with the empire. Though both you and Rex were very determinate to help others like him. And also, obviously, protect your allies against the empire.

  Well, as expected trouble begins. There’s been rumors about what’s going in Ryloth with the Syndulla’s and the empire occupation. Worried about them and their people, you go there to help as you can. And if there’s need, you’d call more rebels to help too though you didn’t want to envolve more people yet because you’re afraid of the reaction it could cause ( and what that would cost for ryloth and its people). You also have a tiny tiny hope that maybe just maybe Cody could be there.

  Arriving in Ryloth, you discover the Syndulla family have indeed oppose agains the empire occupation and they’ve went into a lot of trouble because of that but apparently a group of mercenaries (?) have already rescued them from the prison they were sent to. One less problem for you to fix I guess. You were glad for them but you still want to spy a little on the empire and see what you could find out after all, the trip couldn’t be for nothing.

  You find your way and get to a particular high hill with a great view of one imperial base. You pick up your binoculars and the only person you see in a sort of balcony is a very depressive-looking Crosshair. You remember him from that one time clone force 99 saved your butt from the mess you’ve yourself in. He was… quite unfriendly, let’s say. But he did get the job done and made sure you were okay so you just ignored his behavior. Looking at him now it was looking at a shadow of him. 

   It made you remember what Rex told you once: 

“We clones were all created with this chip thing in our my minds. We were made for the war and the war only but apparently someone thought it would be great if they let us think we've got free will. That we could be anything we wanted to be after the war. So we made friends, some of us found a family with our jedi. They let we hope. Just so we have all of that taken away from us with order 66. The war had ended for everyone except for us. We had our will taken from us, our minds controlled by this chip and we had to follow orders. While we're still there conscious of what we were doing we had to kill the people we fought together the entire war. I remember her face... I'm so glad she didn't see my face. I couldn't bare.” 

 Thinking about what all the clones been through, you can’t just leave him like this. He did save you once and this was your chance to repay that. Rex keeps saying we can’t save everyone (more to himself than to you) but one person is better than nobody, right?  At the time you improvise a plan: neither the empire nor Cross can’t know yet that you’re a rebel. You haven’t done anything yet incriminating (at least not that they were aware of). So you can just jump in there where he was standing and talk to him. Worst case scenario he ignores you. However you sure knew how to annoy him enough that at least he would call you out and when that happens you act. Ok, that you still have to figure out exactly how you would act. Well, half of a plan is better than no plan.

  You just jump in behind his back and of course he points his gun at you as expected. But he apparently recognizes who it’s standing in front of him and put his riffle down. 

   “ Hello there.”  You say.

   “What do you think you’re doing?”  He replies.

   “Oh, please, don’t act like you aren’t happy to see me.” 

     He gives you a faint of a smile. “Don’t flatter yourself.” 

     You smiled back. “But seriously, what you’re doing here all alone? And why- You finally noticed the burn mark on his now bald head. - are you like this? Doesn’t the empire takes care of its soldiers? Nor your squad? The bad batch, right? That’s what you called yourselves?” 

     His face closes again. “You have nothing to do with that. I’m-” 

     “By yourself?” You pause for a moment. “Alright, I get it. You’ve probably been through a lot. We all have. Not sure why you’re like this but it doesn’t matter right now. I just wonder… Don’t you want to get out of all of this?” 

     Cross pauses for a moment. It seems like he's considering the possibility. “I… I can’t.” 

     “But…”  You then think. You remind yourself of how protective he was that one time you were saved by them. Maybe this instinct was still there, you had to try. You saw a pointed rock close to where you were standing and decided that you would accidentally cut yourself. “Ouch!” 

    “What’s up?” 

    “Oh! Nothing! Just might have cut myself here.” You show your hand now with a bit bigger than you expected cut and some blood.

     He almost laughs at it. “What a little clumsy one you are, eh?” 

     His mocking at you, that’s something, right? “Yeah, I guess….” 

     “Well, let’s go?”  He points to the door.

     “Go where?” 

     “Don’t you wanna take care of that, sweetheart?” 

     “Right, medical bay then?” 

     “Obviously.”  Perfect. He would be right where you needed him to be.

  The both of you enter the facility and walk directly to the medical bay. The empire base is pretty much a bland dark and boring military base with some troopers walking around, some commanders (you think) yelling at the soldiers and some droids doing whatever they have to do. You knew only that they were “r - unities” but droids weren’t exactly your area of expertise. However you do notice that the troopers walking around still wear the same clone armor from back the war. And you feel guilty. Because as much as you’d like you won’t be able to help them all. They’ll stay there with their chips on being controlled by the empire…. By the force, that was a hole guilty trip you knew you shouldn’t take. It wasn’t your fault. No, no. They did this. Palpatine and his men were the monsters. Not you. And certainly not these poor clones. One day, yes, one day maybe you could come back and save them?

 “Hmmm…. You wanna me to do this?”  Cross says. You were so distracted in your thoughts you don’t even realized you were already in the medical bay.

 “Oh. You don’t have to.” 

 “It's fine. I’m used to do this anyway.” 

  “Ok. Be my guest then?” 

  “Wow, you’re so funny.” He jokes.

  “Whatever. Just do your thing.” 

  “Give me your hand.”  

 You give him your hand and he takes it. And to your surprise he’s very gentle while taking care of your wound. He applies some alcohol pads to clean the wound. And as he presses the wound to stop the bleeding you reach for your gun and keep looking at his face. His very concentrated. It’s almost like the rest of the galaxy doesn’t matter. He’s only there at the moment focused on helping you. And you’re trying to plan how you’re gonna knock him out to take his chip off.

 “Now I’m gonna get some stuff to make a bandage for ya, ok?” He says and turns his back. Now is you chance. You turn your blaster to stun only and shoots. He falls. 

 “I’m sorry. But there’s no other way.” You whisper as if he’s actually listening. 

 It takes some effort (seriously, Crosshair's heavier than he looks) but you manage to put him on one these surgical stretchers. You also have to learn super quick how to use the pad control to see where the chip’s in and take it off. But it’s done. And you wait and wait… For what it seemed like hours though it was only like 15 minutes.

The blasts from the tank exploded upon contact with the cliffside over Hera and Howzer’s heads. The ground beneath them shook as boulders began to tumble down. Chopper angrily whirred a string of curses in binary and ran ahead of the two. 

“Run!” Howzer pushed Hera forward and she eagerly obeyed. Once the three of them were at a safe distance, Howzer instinctively threw himself over the child and her droid until the rocks settled behind them. That’s when they heard the buzz and clanks of their pursuers making their way through the rubble. 

Howzer slowly stood. He put his helmet back on and aimed his blaster at the shaking debris. Hera noticed the slight tremble in his grip. “Chopper, when I give you the signal, you take Hera and run, okay?” 

“No, I’m not leaving you, Howzer!” Hera replied defiantly. 

“Hera.” His voice audibly cracked under his helmet. “Please, you have to—” 

Howzer was interrupted by the roar of an approaching ship. The light freighter dipped down into the canyon, hovering right in front of the three. As the ramp opened you calmly walked down, with only the outline of your Mandalorian armor visible against the backlight of the cargo hold. Your relaxed body language indicated a complete lack of concern with the situation. You seemed unfazed even as the Imperial forces began blasting through the rock. 

“—Hera Syndulla?” You yelled over the engine’s roar. She nodded. “Come with me.” You turned and began to walk back up the ramp.

“Wait!” She yelled back, “who are you?” 

Still walking, you replied almost to yourself, “Someone Cham now owes a big fucking favor.” 

She guides the ship deftly between the craft of Phoenix squadron, then sets the trajectory.  “First hyperspace waypoint is in six hours.  We’ll make contact with Chopper again then, and plot the next jump.”

Hera nods, stretches in the copilot’s seat as the the stars in the viewport smear into the blue glow of hyperspace.  A yawn forces itself out before she can quite stifle it, and she tries to hide it by turning her face as if suddenly fascinated by the view out the copilot’s window.

Unfortunately, Ahsoka doesn’t miss much.  “How long has it been since you slept?”

Mental math is not what Hera wants to be doing right now, but she makes an attempt.  There had been the supply run to an out of the way market, the debriefing with Sato, the fleet’s jump to a new sanctuary system, realizing they’d lost contact with the Ghost, the long hours spent trying to reestablish it—

“I’ll be fine with some caf,” she mutters.

She really wishes Ahsoka hadn’t pointed it out; now that her attention isn’t taken up by other things, her body informs her in no uncertain terms that she needs to sleep.

And Ahsoka knows it, if the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth is any indication.  “There’s a bunk in the back, you can nap until the waypoint.”

“Now wait a minute,” Hera protests.  “You’ve been up at least as long as I have.  I’m not kicking you out of your bed.”

Ahsoka sighs, turning to face her.  “It’s fine.  I know a Jedi trick or two, I can stay up a while longer.”

Ugh, Jedi tricks.  Hera crosses her arms, fixing Ahsoka with the look that usually gets her the unquestioning obedience of her crew.  “Uh-uh.  I’ve seen Kanan crash after too many days of ‘Jedi tricks’ to stay awake.  Take a nap.”

Ahsoka blinks at her, then laughs.  “Suddenly I see why Sabine accidentally called you ‘mom’ at the meeting the other day.  Look, you take the bunk, I can sleep on the floor.”

“It’s your ship, I should take the floor.”

“I’m used to sleeping on floors.”

“All the more reason for you to take the bed while you have the chance.”

Ahsoka squints at her, and Hera doesn’t bother to hide her smile.  Honestly it’s refreshing to have someone around who can match her for sheer stubbornness.  Especially when she doesn’t have to worry about persuading that person to take her orders later.

“Fine,” Ahsoka concedes at last.  “I’m tired.  We can share the bunk, will that be acceptable?”

Hera’s treacherous heart skips a beat—just one, she’s not a wide-eyed, star-struck teenager anymore.  But she’s not going to let Ahsoka sleep on the floor, and a real bed does sound very nice right now.  “Fine,” she agrees, standing from the copilot’s chair and stretching.  “You have an alarm set before we get to the waypoint?”

“Yes, mother,” Ahsoka mutters, but it’s in good humor as she leads the way into the back of her craft.

The sleeping quarters are utilitarian, spartan, and clean.  Hera is distinctly reminded of Kanan’s quarters on the Ghost.  The bunk is bigger than the Ghost’s however, just wide enough to accommodate them both.  Not that it really has to be, since Ahsoka peels off her boots and belt and proceeds to wedge herself as close to the wall as she can get.

Hera peers at her, over-exhausted brain struggling for an explanation.  “You know, I don’t need that much room,” she says finally, lying down gingerly on the other side of the bunk.  “And I’m so tired, I’m not going to roll over and fall off either.”

Ahsoka relaxes fractionally, but still keeps herself tucked into as small a space as possible.  “I’m not used to sharing,” she offers, by way of explanation.