my entry for day 1 of @clonexocweek!! i chose the flirting prompt!
galactic chess piece hunting is very important (and is absolutely flirting when you are a pair of nerds)
ellor is a trans man, he/him only please!
this is an illustrated scene from a fic im working on, is still a wip, but here's a slightly longer excerpt of the scene below a readmore if people want to see!
Nudging Rex down the shortcut between plate avenue and prime street, they soon find their way to the book and hobby shop, a fuzzy, silly excitement resting in his chest like a content loth cat. There’s so many pieces to show him!
‘Here, down this aisle.’ he guides, spying the ithorian cashier in the same spot as always. A flash of recognition sparks in their eyes, and Ellor spares them a polite nod, worries about what they had seen him buy last time washed away as they reach the piles of chess pieces, stacked against the peachy walls.
Rex blinks at the tower of data cards, rising from the carpeted floor. ‘That’s…a lot of cards.’
‘Yes I thought the same!’ Ellor beams, brushing a dust bunny off of the side of one of the cards. ‘It was quite the struggle choosing a new one before, let me tell you.’
‘Not sure I’d have managed it.’ Rex admits, eyes scanning the names stamped onto the sides of the cards, a spark of intrigue hidden there.
Ellor grins. ‘Well, you must now. We have plenty of credits left, so let's browse for a new pair along with our replacements, shall we?’
Mindful of the precarious pile, they begin rifling through all of the different cards, scrutinous eyes on the blurbs of all manner of pieces shaped like animals and plants across the galaxy.
‘Hmm, perhaps this one?’ Ellor suggests, holding up a card depicting a gigantic scarifian octosquid.
He half expects Rex to agree immediately, so his brows raise a touch when he reads the blurb with narrowed eyes.
‘Eh, too similar to the pitcher plant in function.’ he says.
‘Fair. What about this one?’ he passes over another in his hands, a pantoran slimefish.
‘Hmm, could work, but its ability nullifies the tusk cat’s.’
‘You don’t have to play them on the same board.’ Ellor smiles.
Rex pointedly only responds with a hum, handing over a piece himself. ‘How about this?’
Ellor holds it away from the fluorescent lights to read better.
Dewback:
Origin: Tatooine
Ability: Grants a defense boost to any ally next to it.
His eyes flit up, brow low. ‘You know, I have only just started beating you.’
‘Yes.’
‘And this one seems like it would strengthen many of your favourite strategies.’
‘Yes.’
‘Mmm. It’s almost as if you want to make it more difficult for me.’
‘Yes.’
Ellor laughs. ‘Rex!’
Rex looks away, hands behind his back like a model soldier. It doesn’t hide the way the corner of his mouth twitches up. ‘It’s important to improve. We’d both have it, and it would be better for your defence than relying on your tiger.’
‘Now, I do not rely on it!’ Ellor says, a mock gasp. ‘Says the one who will not go one game without his tusk cat.’
A half shrug, still clearly too pleased. ‘It's a good piece.’
‘And so is mine; my tiger has been getting all of my wins, I’ll remind you.’ Ellor says, taking a step closer.
‘It has.’ Rex agrees, unaffected. ‘For now.’
For now! The cheek! The nerve! It bubbles delight in his chest, the light and airy feeling pulling at his cheeks and squinting his eyes. ‘Well.’ he says, leaning a mite closer, voice low. ‘Perhaps we should buy different pieces and see who wins out.’
That familiar flash of competition in Rex's eyes. That works.
With renewed vigor, they return to the pile to pour over the cards, taking an embarrassingly long time as other patrons come and go, avoiding their little aisle entirely. Rex chooses one first, and as Ellor is comparing a flax worm and a leaping frog, he peers over his shoulder, a disapproving hum escaping as he holds the worm higher
Oh? Ellor bites the inside of his cheek so he doesn't laugh, and puts his focus on the frog.
An approving noise. No way he knows he's making them.
Willing his shoulders not to shake, or lean back into Rex’s chest, he picks up another card, a terentetek, and begins to read the blurb. A few moments later he hears a conflicted noise, the puff of it against his neck making him giggle.
‘You are not helping!’ he says, voice warm and bright. Despite it, Rex seems to remember himself and straightens.
‘Right, I’m sor-’
‘No, no it’s fine it’s-’ Ellor pushes through and trails off. Nice. Pleasant. ‘Fun. But-’ he gently touches his arm and turns him around, towards the sabacc decks. ‘I must choose myself!’
my entry for day 7 of @clonexocweek! i chose the 'scars' prompt
some scars are liberating <3
ellor is a trans man, he/him only please!
This event was so much fun, thank you so much for hosting! I hope everyone's enjoyed seeing these goobs as much as I've enjoyed seeing everyone's submissions!
(also lmk if this needs the nsfw banner. its meant to be a gentle moment, i don't personally see top surgery scars as nsfw, and there's no explicit body parts but i know how tumblr can be moderation wise lol)
my entry for day 2 of @clonexocweek! i chose the 'confiding in each other' prompt!
ellor is a trans man, he/him only please!
this is post citadel, and also an illustrated scene from my wip fic! i'll put the more in depth excerpt under the readmore, though this is the last entry that'll have an excerpt bc the others are beyond where i've written lol
(also forgot i had replies restricted lol, should be fixed now!)
A knock at Ellor’s door perks him up, and he stands, opting to hobble over and resign himself to a scolding if it’s Kix on the other side.
Blonde, buzzed hair. Words fail him for an embarrassing moment, and Rex looks away.
‘I talked to Fives.’ he says.
Ellor nods, thinking back over their conversation. ‘I hope you didn’t take that as an order.’
‘I didn't. I just…talked to him.’
‘Alright…’ he murmurs. He doesn’t bother asking how he’s holding up; the tension in his shoulders is gone, but in its place is an exhausted slope, one he aches to soothe over.
Dangerous thought. He stuffs it away and steps back. ‘Would you like to come in for a moment?’
A more familiar hesitation captures Rex then, one that makes him smile despite it all. To his surprise he nods, following him into the darkened room.
Despite the little light, a prickling vulnerability lingers on Ellor’s neck, eyes flitting about to make sure all of the surfaces are clean as Rex looks around.
Brown eyes squints towards the crutches. ‘Shouldn’t you be using those?’
‘I should.’ he agrees, force pulling them over before he can protest. It seems to settle him, looking back to the room once more.
‘It’s not much bigger than mine.’ he notes.
‘I suppose it doesn’t need to be.’ Ellor says, not quite able to roll his shoulders right now. Rex lingers in the centre of the room, something in his stance pushing his words forward. ‘Did you want to talk about something?
‘I’m…not sure.’
Ellor rephrases his sentence; he could do with a more delicate touch right now. ‘Is there something to talk about?’ he offers.
A private breath. ‘Could be.’
With a gentle nudge to his leg with the tip of his crutch, he guides him towards the edge of his bed, sitting down and looking up at him expectantly.
Rex swallows and joins him.
The blankets are standard for all of them he thinks, but seeing him sitting atop his buzzes a pleased feeling up his spine, one he kicks back as he waits for him to start, ever patient.
‘...Echo and Fives were batchmates.’ he says.
Ellor’s brows furrow at the word, familiar apart, but not together. ‘They grew up in the same batch?’
‘Yeah. Rest of them died on the Rishi Moon. They’re all the other had left, from Kamino.’
‘Do batches not mingle?’
Rex’s expression scrunches, a half hearted sort of thing. ‘Eh, they do sometimes but…batches are different. You eat with them, train with them. Live with them. For ten years, most of the time.’
‘I…imagine that would lead to quite the strong bond?’ he offers, soft. Rex and Commander Cody…
‘Stronger than most, yeah. It’s…a constant. Among the training.’
A constant, until it’s not. Sympathy for Fives and concern for Rex flare up at once; who were the rest of Rex and Cody’s? He knows Captain Keeli was one of them…
Questions for later. ‘I’m sorry.’ he finds himself saying. ‘It must be quite difficult for Fives.’
A hum. ‘He’s hanging in there.’ he says, which he imagines is Rex code for terrible. ‘Wanted a coffee, mostly.’
Ellor glances down at his empty hands. ‘Did you give him yours?’
‘No it’s- he likes it different. And uh, you made it, so-’
Warmth zips up his back, and before he has a moment to ask Rex what in the galaxy he means by that, he looks to him with the ghost of a smile on his face. Like he would in any other circumstance.
‘How long have you been waiting to do that?’
Ellor laughs, nervous and flustered, looking away. ‘Well it’s…you know, you always get there first.’ he says, getting his bearings. ‘It was good, to be there for him.’
‘It was a good idea.’ Rex admits. They share a tired, private smile.
Their shoulders brush, more than they really should; there’s enough space. Ellor watches him carefully.
‘And…how are you ah, feeling about it?’ he asks, the words stiff and foreign on his tongue, pale fingers brushing over his vambrace. ‘You needn’t tell me, if you don’t want to, but the offer is there, if you wish.’ he adds, hasty.
Clumsy. The noise making a fool of himself.
Rex doesn’t seem to notice, or rather, he probably does but doesn’t mind. His lips thin with conflict, and, well, Ellor thinks he knows how he feels.
He shakes his head. ‘It happens.’ he says, low, tinged with grief. Resigned.
‘It does.’ he murmurs, an exhausted agreement. ‘I’m very sorry, Rex.’
Rex watches him for a long, aching moment, before his eyes drop to his arm, where they’re still joined, then back up at him. His eyes widen a fraction.
‘I should uh-’ he begins to get up, the motion knocking the fuzz from Ellor’s mind.
‘Right, yes yes. We need our rest.’ he says, straightening on the bed. ‘Goodnight Rex.’
‘...Goodnight, Ellor…Thank you.’
‘Of course.’ he says, hoping he doesn’t sound as breathy as he feels. ‘Anytime.’
Rex smiles, a small thing, all for him, and leaves the room, the door shutting to darkness once more.
