"Why are they here?"
Two stormtroopers stepped in front of him, blocking his path. It wasn't a question of whether he could get past them, but a question of whether he should. What kind of mood was Vader in today?
"Leave us," the sith lord commanded, and Boba could almost smell their sweaty relief through their armor. The troopers left, leaving him alone in a sterile imperial office with Darth Vader.
"You always come to me first," Boba continued, holding his ground as the sith moved toward him. "You don't need a bunch of fumbling idiots spooking Solo and driving him underground. I'll find the Millennium Falcon and you'll get them alive."
"Will I?" Vader didn't stop until they were barely an arm's width apart, looming over Boba like a dark shadow. "I find myself less certain of your restraint these days."
"If you trust me, you trust my methods," Boba growled. "I know when restraint is needed and I know when it's not."
"I would like to believe that." Vader raised his hand, a gesture that produced the same chill in his blood as every other being, but he didn't move. He watched that black-gloved hand from behind his visor as it came in and then fought the urge to swallow when it settled at his throat.
The span of the hand was impressive on it's own. Vader's fingers wrapped around Boba's neck in a way that made him feel uncomfortably fragile, but they didn't squeeze. The sith lord said nothing, the only sound in the room was the rasp of his breathing through his respirator as his hand moved down and spread over Boba's breastplate.
Then it went lower. If Boba looked down, he would be able to see long, black-clad fingers against his stomach, but he didn't look down. He kept his attention on the oblique black mask in front of him.
At least he could swallow now, without drawing Vader's attention to it. Without looking weak. Or eager.
His hand lifted as it bypassed his belt, and returned to cover the curved piece of duraplast protecting his groin. "Your restraint," Vader said slowly, his words labored. "Will not be needed right now."
Oh. That kind of mood.