An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Chapter Summary:
“What. Is. That?” Patch asked as he entered the cadet barracks to see Gev hugging a very large, orange… thing.
Cadet shenanigans with Patch and his batchmate Gev! Written for the OC-tober prompt "Pumpkin Patch."
Author's note: I like to think that the nicer trainers would bring random junk to show the cadets, for enrichment purposes. The Kaminoans weren’t big fans of this strategy, though, because of the high likelihood of hitchhikers and invasive species, but the trainers kept it on the down-low… most of the time. This fic is heavily inspired by that one comic of two alligators finding a pumpkin and adopting an opossum, lol.
Pumpkin Patch:
“What. Is. That?” Patch asked as he entered the cadet barracks to see Gev hugging a very large, orange… thing.
Caught like a deer in the headlights, Gev nearly dropped whatever it was before steadying himself enough to place it on the ground with a small heave. Patch’s squad may have just finished their latest growth-spurt, but they were far from full-grown.
Getting no answer to his question, Patch crossed his arms. “Did you steal it from the trainers storage–”
“No, I didn’t steal it! I… creatively acquired it?” Gev offered sheepishly, and Patch heaved a sigh, which was only doubled by his batchmate’s next words. “And I’m going to hatch it!”
“What.” Patch blinked disbelievingly.
Gev’s words tumbled out faster than Patch could keep track of them. “You know how we were learning about different species during flash-training? Well, lots of species come from eggs, and ‘53 was telling me that some species sit on their eggs, and they get cool monsters and stuff, and I figured that I’m bigger than lots of those species, so if I sat on the egg–”
“That’s not how it works.” Patch groaned in annoyance.
“If it’s not an egg, then what is it?!” Gev countered, giving Patch a knowing look when he predictably fell silent.
“See? It could be an egg! You don’t know!” He crowed triumphantly when Patch came up empty.
“I do know! Eggs are smooth, not bumpy!” Patch should know what eggs looked like; after all, he was going to be a medic some day… just, not yet.
Gev shook his head emphatically, not noticing as a small crack started to form on the orange object he’d brought to the barracks. “Well, maybe some eggs are bumpy… and orange. Some eggs are weird!”
“Not that weird, vod! You should put it back before the trainers notice you stole it.”
“I told you, I didn’t steal it. I found it!”
“Did you find it in the trainer’s storage area?”
“... maybe?”
More yelling ensued as the crack got bigger and bigger, until a mid-sized rodent poked its head through the orange shell, shocking the two cadets into silence. Wide eyes looked at the rodent and then back at each other, until a wide grin appeared on Gev’s face
Taking a deep breath, he shouted with glee, “I told you!!!”
Patch sighed to himself, feeling much older than his ten standard years of age. He was never going to live this down.
