"Jesse, when did you realize we were old?"
Jesse looked at Kix as best he could in the dark of their tent, brow furrowed.
"That's a good question." he paused for a moment. "Umbara would probably be the best answer. That battle turned every last one of us into veterans, including the shinies. What about you? You obviously had to be thinking about it to ask the question."
"I was lying here, realizing how damn empty it was with just the two of us. Hardcase is gone, Fives is gone, even Dogma is gone. I kriffing miss Dogma, Jesse, do you realize how many brothers who were cloned around the same time as us are gone? That's what makes me feel old. Hell, I barely see any of you anymore, with you being an ARC trooper and all."
Jesse shifted in his sleeping bag and nodded his head.
"Sorry about that, Kix, but you know that ever since I became friends with Fives-"
"You don't have to apologize, Jesse. I know how badly you wanted it. Besides, I think I'm becoming the older brother to the mini-medics in your absence."
"Mini-medics?" Jesse laughed.
"Can it, I call them that because half of them are so shiny that I'm blinded whenever I look at their armor and they seems so young."
"How are the new clones? Any trouble?" Jesse asked.
"It may just be how long I've been around, but they feel stiffer than a cadaver. They've still got names, but they laugh less and don't paint their armor as much. It must be something new they're doing on Kamino."
Both of them heard their tent unzip and looked to see who it was.
"Sorry to interrupt, but it was getting lonely." Captain Rex said and sat down by Jesse.
"No problem, Captain." Kix reassured him.
"So, what were you two talking about before I came?"
"Feeling old, how dull the new clones are. You would know." Jesse answered.
"I've felt old for ages, boys. When I saw you two losing the shiny armor, I felt old. I felt old when Tup was running on the front lines during missions because he had more experience than other clones. I understand you two, and I admire the fact that you're still alive. That means you're either really good or stupidly lucky. Honestly, it's probably both." Rex said, smiling at Jesse and Kix.
"Thanks for the encouragement, Captain. Glad to see you are confident in some of the five o' first's finest." Jesse joked, but agreed with Rex's sentiment.
"Honestly, a lot of us are still around because we're stupidly lucky. There are many situations where one thing could have gone wrong and I wouldn't be alive. If Heavy hadn't sacrificed himself on Rishi, I probably wouldn't be here right now. Jesse, if Hardcase hadn't blown himself up on Umbara, you might have died on their supply ship. Kix, I have no idea how many troopers have covered you…"
"Rex, I'm the reason they all stay alive in the first place. Field medic, remember?"
"Some of them probably covered your ass as you were saving someone else's." Jesse reminded, giving Kix a jab to the arm.
"Sorry Jesse, Rex, I got carried away." Kix said.
"Anyway," Rex said, "what has been up with the shinies lately? Half of them don't even paint their armor past the blue triangle that's gotten so popular recently. They telling them that's illegal on Kamino or something?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Kix.
"That's what I was just saying!" Kix almost yelled, and after Jesse shushed him, he continued. "Yeah, so these shinies come in, and they get personality eventually, but they feel colder, more hesitant."
"That's scary. This war goes on any longer and we're gonna turn into a bunch of battle droids." Jesse said, shivering.
"That's what we all worry about." Rex agreed, his tone heavy.
None of them talked for a while, not leaving their current positions until Jesse and Rex heard Kix's light snores. Jesse got lulled to sleep by his friend, and Rex took comfort in having some other body heat that night and finally fell into a deep slumber.