Oooo tell us more about Pup!
Ooooo thanks for asking. I have a lot on him so this is a pretty long post. I hope you enjoy it though, he’s one of my fave OC clones.
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When he was a cadet, he was very talkative. He loved interacting with everyone he could. In fact he was nicknamed Natter. But the Trainers and Kaminoans felt his personality wasn’t suited to being a soldier.
The Kaminoans reconditioned him (though something went wrong during the process and screwed up some of his memories as well as being far more of a change than they’d planned) and ever since he’s been shy and quiet, he’ll hunch his shoulders and make himself small and keep to the shadows and out of the way. He can get anxious in a loud room with too many people or when he’s singled out for being different.
He kept his bookish want to learn everything personality, but went from being talkative and wanting to tell people to being isolated and keeping it to himself.
He’s still a very skilled shot and fighter and passed all his tests, but he was very isolated and would far rather sit and read than spend time hanging out with his vode. It was a complete 180 and not much more desirable than Natter had been. Of course he didn’t remember being Natter, and he was placed with a different squad. He had a lot of issues on Kamino, never fitting in. He was always a little lonely and never felt like he fit in.
Not only is he shy, but he’s also 2 inches shorter than the rest of the clones. They don’t know why, but he’s closer to Fett’s height than a normal clone’s. Fix will later theorise it had something to do with the decommissioning gone wrong, the mix of chemicals and the issues they had with it, but at the end of the day it was a miracle that he managed to get through Kamino without being decommissioned.
All of these things are reasons he was sent off to the Guard, but it was better than being decommissioned, which would have been the other option, Jedi intervention or not. (You think the Kaminoans really stopped after the Jedi showed up).
When he first showed up he was assigned to be a Senatorial Guard, but within a week he was reassigned to the ARF unit.
He’d been on shift and he’d been singled out for being small, including jokes by the Senator talking about sending him back to Kamino because clearly he wasn’t done growing yet, and as soon as he’d been able to get off shift he’d found a supply cupboard and shut himself in and curled up behind the items in there to cry.
Hound had been walking past with Grizzer and Grizzer had stopped by the door and started pawing at it. Hound of course investigated and met a shiny having a panic attack. He helped him through it and sat with him and made sure he was ok and knew he was safe and that his brothers wouldn’t let him be sent away for his defects.
Grizzer curled up on his lap and he kept himself calm by scratching behind his ear. Hound asked if he’d be more comfortable with the mastiffs and being a part of the ARF and that was that.
His siblings had never put him in harms way before, and a few even tried to cover for him, but he’d never fit in and they’d never gone out of their way to help before. So he latched onto Hound.
Within a month most of the Vode had nicknamed him Hounds little shadow. He’s always a few steps behind him.
Hound trusts him with everything, including his plans to help his vode. Pup is the last person anyone would expect to be a part of anything like that. The library card and access to reading resources was for him more than anyone else.
Whenever Pup finds something that catches his interests, he’ll learn everything he can about it. That’s nothing new, but since his reconditioning he’d keep it all to himself. He didn’t even remember Natter, but he knew the holes in his personality and shaking hand and problems he had came from having been too talkative. Hound is always willing to listen no matter how random it may be and proves himself that it’s safe for Pup to talk. That nothing will happen to him if he does.
It’s actually helped Hound with cases or saved his life more than once. He never thought he’d need to know the difference between yellow tipped giant butterflies and yellow point hawk moths but it saved Hound and a dozen civilians. He gave Pup the biggest hug and a bag of chocolates in thanks.
Pup loves the Mastiffs. The first time Hound ever saw him smile properly was with them, and for too long it was the only time they’d see him laugh or talk. That he’d talk to the mastiffs about everything, conversations his vode were horribly upset to realise he’d never have with them. Hound had noticed, but the others also brought it to his attention. They worried about him, but Hound assured them he’d open up in time if he wanted, and that if they proved they’d listen, he’d start to talk. There were more important things than conversations anyway, and making sure every member of the CG feels safe and comfortable at the very least with each other is a large part of that.
Pup got his name, as previously stated here, after a group of rowdy drunk GAR soldiers made a scene on shore leave. Hound and Pup were on patrol and stepped in. The other clones started mocking them for being paper pushers and spending all their time playing with the doggies and one of them recognised Hound.
They all started making jokes about Hound and his new little pup, mocking his size and the way they stood with Hound slightly between him and them in case they proved a threat. In the end Hound and Pup arrested all five of them, (two taken down by Hound, 2 by Pup and 1 by Grizzer) and they were all thrown in the drunk tank.
While filling out the paperwork Hound called him vod’ika and he relied with Pup.
Hound just smiled and offered a hug.
Pup went back to that supply room for panic attacks or just to be alone and think more than once after that first time, but was more and more willing to call Hound for help. Eventually Hound cleared it out and added other things so he could go there if he needed seclusion without the chance of someone accidentally walking in looking for the supplies.
The Guard is very isolated from the rest of the GAR, but they try to make sure no one ever feels isolated within it. Finding out that Pup had felt that way upset them, but they understood it and understood that sometimes Pup wanted to take some time for himself.
There’s a difference between isolated and taking some time for yourself.
They’re all fine with Pup being on his own when he wants to be, but they want to make sure he never ever feels isolated or alone. That he always knows his siblings are there for him. He slowly started opening up to them too, and he still keeps to himself, but he’s not lonely anymore. He has people to go to and talk to if he wants to now.
It wasn’t long after he got his name that he started to help vode after nightmares. He couldn’t sleep and had been reading when one of his vode had woken with a cry. He’d remembered what Hound always did to Gelo people, and did the same. He’s not sure when it stopped being him going to help and started being their coming to him, but he doesn’t complain. He didn’t want to.
He loves helping them because it’s right and because they accept him and love him. He’s never lonely anymore.
Pup, as I said, is 2 inches shorter than normal clones. His eyes are the typical amber and he kept his hair regulation cut at first, but started to grow it out so it could be longer and curly once he settled into the Guard. He’s wanted to dye it more than once but can never decide on a good colour and as far as the rest of the vode know (except Inky) he has no tattoos. Inky did one on his inner ankle of a mastiff pup. He has a lot of scars, many from trainers on Kamino for growing slowly or hesitating of anything he did wrong. He has scars he doesn’t remember earning he thinks Natter earned. He also has a few from the Guard including missing a chunk of his ear and a scar on his lip. He also has some scary ones on his neck he refuses to tell anyone about. He’s missing two fingers on his right hand, the pinky and ring, but he found a way to pad the glove in his armour so as long as he’s wearing gloves no one ever knows. His medical file states he lost them in a training accident, that’s all he’d tell Fix anyway. (Fix knows he came from a Senators office and not the training yard, but he doesn’t push. Pup isn’t the first to lie about an injury dealt by a Senator who hates the clones, he won’t be the last.)
His favourite colour is the CG red, he painted little paw prints on his armour along with the typical cog and gear designs and his helmet has similar grey and red markings to Hounds but the red and grey are in opposite places. In an act of defiance he painted the two missing fingers on his gloves red too, the rest of the gloves are black.
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So anyway, that’s Pup. He’s one of my fave OCs and deserves love. :-).
Thanks for asking. I love talking about this AU and my characters within it.
