meet you at the finish line (The Bad Batch Tech x fem!reader)
summary ~ come again? did Tech really volunteered to a race?! with a heart rate that would deem unhealthy to your boyfriend, you watch Tech race to the finish line, reuniting with him with something else on ur mind but hmmm, on the same theme of course! ;)
** a/n: ya’ll ever since the racing ep of tech, my life was forever changed. a whole episode dedicated to this nerdy boy?! can i be any more in love with him.
“OK. So not only are you telling me that you are going to race in a vehicle that you’ve never even driven before, but you also have the slightest chance of getting seriously injured or KILLED?!” you exclaim, hands on your waist as you eyed your boyfriend incredulously.
You knew Tech was smart, in fact, maybe even too smart. But for him to volunteer abruptly to such a race where there were barely any rules, well, you couldn’t help but get a bit defensive (and okay, angry too) at his commitment to this.
And of course, like most of the arguments the two of you have had, Tech is glued to his holopad yet again.
Sigh!
“The degree of me being injured is almost insignificant. Given my calculations, I will most likely win the race,” Tech replies nonchalantly as he bops his head to himself.
“Most likely-???”
He finally releases his eyes from his holopad to look at you through his helmet.
“You don’t need to worry, Y/N.”
You scoff, face contorted into a deep frown. You knew all too well that of course that would be his response. You walk closer to him, placing your hand gently on top of his holopad so he is forced to dart his attention fully to you. You raise both of your arms to both sides of his helmet, and with a wordless nod of approval from him, you took it off. His brown hair ruffled cutely when you took off his helmet, and you took a deep breath as you look into his eyes clearer. “Tech... I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Trust me, mesh’la. I’ll be okay, I promise.” Tech shares a sympathetic smile. The kind of smile that says you’re cute when you worry. He steps closer to you, and gently tucks a piece of hair behind your ear, trying to wipe that angry pout on your face.
You let out a sigh. You know that no matter how much you try to sway him to reconsider, when Tech’s mind is onto something, it’s almost impossible to change his mind unless there is substantial evidence to prove that there is an alternative solution that would be just as convincing (and clearly you don’t have the time for that!). But the reassurance in his eyes and determination in his voice settled your nerves a bit. And it wasn’t necessarily what he said that calmed you down, but his voice-- soft yet confident. Warm yet tender.
You abruptly pulled him into a hug, smiling a bit to yourself at Tech’s quirkyness as he readjusts himself to properly hug you back. Despite being with him for so many months, his awkwardness never fails to make you smile. You finally pulled away, throwing in a kiss on his cheek for good measure which won you back a smile -- something that he rarely shares with anyone.
“Fine,” you eventually agreed as you tried to work up a grin. You took another deep breath and gave him an encouraging look. “Go win that race, racer boy.”
Tech looks at you blankly and darts his gaze from your eyes to your lips rapidly as if he’s calculating equations in his mind. He finally leans down to kiss you on the lips, catching you a bit surprised.
“Don’t have to tell me twice, mesh’la. I’ll see you at the finish line.”
Your eyes widened, startled by that rather suave comment Tech threw at you. You watch him put his helmet swiftly back on and enter the crowd. The excitement exerting was palpable; air thick with curiosity as the people await to see who will be the next racers in the starting line.
//
And raucous crowd never died down...
Especiallyyyyy when Tech removed all his weapons.
Yes.
ALL his weapons.
Oh, this man...
“TECH!!!”
You shriek through your comm, pulse racing violently in protest. You ran your hands through your frazzled hair of what feels to be like the billionth time. The only response you get was a factual reason of his actions, which only made you roll your eyes and worry even more.
You groaned to yourself. Honestly, this man owes you so much for the loop of emotions you have been feeling ever since the race kicked off. But now you couldn’t focus on that, not during the very last lap. You tried your best to collect yourself, making sure your emotions don’t bubble and tip over or else your you would be throwing something sharp and hard at the monitor in front of you.
Tech zooms through the left tunnel.
Out he comes...
And.....
“HERE THEY COME!! IT’S GONNA BE CLOSE!!!” You hear the announcer exclaim.
Your heart stops.
“AND THE WINNER IS...”
And then finally...what feels like to be forever, you see that all too familiar pod rush pass the finish line in a matter of seconds.
“TECHHHHH!!!!!!!” The intercomer acknowledges his praise to him and the crowd roars with cheers.
You scream, hands flying to the air as you jump up and down, unable to hold in the pride for your boyfriend. Relief swelled in your heart and you quickly race out, wanting to tackle Tech and throw him a few curses before smothering him in kisses.
But you paused your feet when you heard the screaming of the crowd chanting his name repeatedly. You watched the whole scene close enough to make sure Tech gets the attention that he deserves.
Tech hops out of the pod and removes his helmet smoothly. Noticing his own name echo throughout the arena, he stares at everyone dumbfoundedly before throwing in an awkward (but the absolute cutest) grin to everyone, making the people yell even louder.
Smiling, you internally fought the urge to just hug him right then; your heart ached to just kiss him because you totally did not have doubts! (doubts who? never!)
Suddenly, he turns to you with eyes locking with yours immediately. And of course, it leaves you with butterflies in your stomach once again. The same ol’ butterflies you had when you first met him, when you had your first date with him, and just like when you had your very first kiss with him. Eyes locked so seriously it felt like you two were the only ones in the world.
After greeting the crowd, he walks towards you and you notice the squaring of his shoulders and the edge of lips just tilting ever so slightly upwards.
The energy around him is...different.
Pride?
Confidence?
Seeing him like this makes your pulse race even more, but in a different way. And the more seconds pass, the more you felt yourself growing hot.
Winning sure does look good on him.
“You look surprised,” he says interlacing his hand with yours, allowing you to pull him closer to you into a shadow crook of the room so people won’t see the two of you so intimately.
“Me?” You breathe, running your hands through his hair in the way you knew that he liked it. You grin mischievously and Tech’s breath cuts short as you press your hand on his chest and push him against a nearby wall. “Never.”
There’s a lavcious look on your face that makes Tech widened his eyes but then chuckle as he readjust his goggles. And before he knows it, you press your lips impatiently against his to show how much you missed him.
Oftenly after a kiss, the two of you will pull away and Tech will be flushed and awkward and you would just laugh and tease him.
But oooooooh no, not today.
You weren’t sure if it was the confidence pooling in him from his victory or what, but you felt a different sensation from him in the kiss. A rush of excitement dusts over your skin as you moan into his kisses.
It was needy, lustful, and satisfying.
But most of all, it was fucking hot.
You felt a confident smirk coming from him in-between kisses, and when your lips finally part, a feverish feeling of want poured over you after waiting so impatiently for him. Tech then travels down to trace kisses on your neck and you let out a loud gasp from his bold move.
“Tech-,” you whispered, body slightly shaking with anticipation.
Tech finally lifts up and you let out a giggle as you raise a hand up to wipe off the smeared lipstick of yours on his lips. He shoots you a small grin.
“Well that was...”
“Quite different from our other intimate moments I would like to say.” Tech finishes with a sheepish smile. “You’re pupils have dilated rather significantly.”
You burst out a laugh and a huge smile as you let out a petulant Techhhh; not wanting his factual confirmations ruin the heated moment the two of you are having as much as you love him.
“Do you want to take.... a little break ....before heading out with the others? ” You look up to him curiously, eyes telling more than the few words that you spilled out. “My treat!” You added with a cute smile.
Tech shoots you a questionable look, but you could see it in his face that he knows exactly what you’re thinking.
“Well...it would be rather rude for me to decline that request, wouldn’t it?”
“After giving me what felt like ten separate heart attacks?” A smile tugged your lips. “Very.”
He cocks an eye at you. “You were that doubtful?!”
You throw him a very obvious glance. “Makers, you’re my boyfriend. I can’t have you injured! W-who will entertain me with all the science-y, big brain-y facts everyday?! Or pepper me with so many questions that I don’t have the answers to?! Or-OR! Remind me that my sudden outbursts are irrational due to my “hormonal imbalance”?
“They way you say that makes it sound like you don’t enjoy it, love ” Tech laughs.
You grin and shrugged. “Eh, well, I sure am in love with this idiot.”
“Well...in that case,” He says smoothly. He interlaces his hand with yours once again, pulling you close so you could wrap an arm around his waist as the two of you walk out of the shadowed nook. He leans down, his voice rasps out against your ear, accent thicker than ever almost like a growl.
i feel like i’m constantly relearning to love the world again after very painful experiences and grief but sometimes it’s as simple as stepping outside and seeing a flower with a bright yellow centre and thinking “oh, how stunning!”
