Clone Ship Week, Day 1 - No Order 66 AU - @cloneshipweek
Commander Thire/Commander Bacara/Commander Neyo, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Tarr Seirr, Pix, Yoda, Original Cerean Character
(Ao3 Link)
After the war ends, and the Chancellor is removed from power, Thire finds himself waiting for Neyo in the Room of a Thousand Fountains.
It's not where he'd intended to wait for Neyo-- far from it, in fact. Usually, he would've waited outside for Neyo's transport to arrive, spoken with the other troopers working while he waited. Usually, he would've resigned himself to dealing with Coruscant's too-hot summers outside, just so he could ensure that he caught a glimpse of Neyo before their respective duties pulled them away again.
But now-- theoretically at least-- their days consisting solely of that kind of monotonous, soul-destroying work are over. Now, while they do still have things to do, it's not as endless as it used to be, not as overwhelming.
He'll never admit it where Cody can hear him-- he, Caladian, and General Kenobi are much too pleased with themselves for somehow pulling off that nexuosik half-cocked "plan" of theirs, Thire refuses to give either of them anymore satisfaction than they've already got-- but he's more than a little impressed, and more than a little thankful, that they managed to pull it off. Sure, it's not finalized yet-- after all, the wheels of the Republic's courts turn slower than a bantha in a sandstorm, so it'll probably be years until they actually see the end verdict-- but Thire's already seen a substantial improvement in his day-to-day life, and he knows he's not the only one.
After all, Thire isn't the only one who's been dragged to the Jedi Temple's gardens by the bitey little Force sensitive osik that's apparently General Mundi's youngest daughter. It was Bacara who roped him into this after the tiny youngling Jedi named Killi-Adi-Mundi tracked him down, Bacara who decided that if he was being dragged to some weird lineage-family reunion, he wasn't suffering alone. And since Neyo wasn't yet on planet, he'd elected to have Thire join him instead.
This is the first time they've spent any time together without Neyo there to mediate since Neyo had somehow roped Thire into their relationship, and it's not exactly how he'd imagined bonding with Bacara, but it could be going much worse. After all, it's not everyday that one gets to watch a three year old bully the Galactic Marine into letting her sit on his shoulders while General Yoda speaks riddles about the power of the small.
Thire's worked enough with General Yoda over the years to be relatively nonplussed by this. Bacara, it seems, has not.
"You're not half as funny as you think you are," Bacara grumbles, crankily opening one eye to glare at Thire while Killi starts pulling past-regulation length hair into tiny ponytails that she seems to be securing with the Force. It's quite the impressive display of power from a cadet. "I can see you laughing."
"I'm not laughing," Thire says drily, rolling his eyes. "You sure those new fancy glasses of yours are the right prescription?"
Bacara moves like he's about to make a rather rude gesture in Thire's direction, before seemingly remembering the presence of his General, his General's former padawan, his General's former padawan's padawan, his General's child, and General Yoda, and sticking his tongue out instead. Thire doesn't laugh at him. He doesn't. Coruscant taught him better self control than that.
General Seirr's padawan however, a young Human girl with long black twists of hair and a fondness for purple, seems to have completely missed the Jedi equivalent of those lessons and bursts out laughing.
General Mundi and Bacara proceed to let out identical put-upon sighs, which just sets the shiny Jedi off even more.
"When is Commander Neyo supposed to arrive again?" General Seirr asks pleasantly, turning to look at Thire. And Thire opens his mouth to respond, but he doesn't end up saying anything, because right as he's about to speak, he's cut off by a sudden flash of fabric, and Commander Pix's laughter turns into a high-pitched squawk as her hood is suddenly pulled down over her eyes by an invisible force.
Thire's not quick enough to bite back his laughter at that one, and the Commander's petulant tone when she speaks just sets him-- and General Mundi's brat-- off further. "Ma-ster," Commander Pix complains, as she tries and fails to take her hood off. "Master!"
"Yes, Padawan mine?" General Seirr asks a moment later, seemingly letting go off her hood as he does, if Commander Pix's surprised squeak when she manages to throw it off is any indication. "Is there a problem?"
She pouts. "You're the worst," she says, turning to General Mundi. "Master Ki, tell Master Tarr that he's the worst."
General Mundi raises an eyebrow. "Tell Master Tarr that he's the worst..."
Thire scrunches his eyebrows together, not quite getting what the General is implying, and a brief glance at Bacara confirms that he's not the only one confused. Commander Pix seems to get it though.
"Master Ki, tell Master Tarr that he's the worst, please?"
Face as neutral as ever, General Mundi turns to look at General Seirr. "Tarr, I'm afraid I must inform you that you're the worst," he says blandly.
Thire covers his mouth to hide his snicker, scoots closer to Bacara so he can whisper to him. "You shebs, you didn't tell me your General was funny."
Bacara glares at him, but doesn't react to the fact that Thire's move left their legs pressed together, which is a win in Thire's book. "Sorry, did you want me to include that in one of my official reports? Yes, Admiral, we managed to hold the line, but we require more supplies. General Mundi made a joke today. Any chance the 327th can reinforce us?"
Thire snorts, elbows him. "You know what I meant," he says pointedly, and Bacara just sighs, which is another point for Thire, if Neyo is to be believed. And perhaps he does it because he's riding high on that success, perhaps the end of the war emboldened him, but Thire takes the opportunity to knock their shoulders together too, grins in response to the unimpressed look Bacara sends him.
Perhaps this whole relationship thing will go better than he was expecting, Thire thinks, and that kind of positivity, that kind of optimism, is something he's hasn't gotten to experience in a long, long time. Perhaps this will go well. Perhaps he can actually fit into the weird mismatched families that Bacara and Neyo managed to create, perhaps he's not the intruder he's been worrying that he'd be.
The feeling of hope sits oddly in his chest, and it feels like a risk, like he's leaving himself exposed, but... it's not bad. It's the opposite, really.
It's been a long time since Thire's allowed himself the luxury of dreaming, but as he looks back to the bickering Master-Padawan pair, feels Bacara's leg next to his, he allows himself to consider that maybe, just maybe, this will actually end somewhat happily.
