Happy 1st Year Anniversary to Technienician! The most adorable ship ever!
(***)
"And when you click here, the food is delivered directly to your quarters," Matt said, disbelieving.
"Yes," Techie replied.
"The food is delivered directly to your quarters," Matt repeated. He couldn't wrap his head around that sentence, as if facing a number with too many zeros, or picturing Kylo Ren losing a fight, it was so improbable that his own brain refused to believe it.
"Yes," Techie confirmed once more.
The young programmer was now tilting his head slightly and stared at Matt.
"Let me show you," Techie continued.
He gripped the immense desk with his hands and rolled himself to the enormous screen that almost covered a whole wall. He leaned his curled up knees to the side and typed so fast on several buttons and symbols that Matt's eyes couldn't keep up.
"What would you like?" Techie asked.
"Huh," came Matt's only answer, making his friend smile.
"You like sweets, don't you?"
"Yeah. Yeah! Sweets are good!" Matt immediately replied, nodding furiously.
"Alright. How about a muffin?"
"Chocolate muffin?"
"Err… blueberry muffin," Techie corrected. "They're out of chocolate ones."
Matt took a deep breath. Another thing he just couldn't understand. There were muffins on this damn ship. There were muffins on this damn ship and he never saw even a single one in the cafeteria! He only ate mushy salty rations followed by squishy sweets, day after day, week after week, month after…
"Or do you prefer something else?" Techie asked, breaking Matt's train of thought.
"Blueberry is fine," he decided.
"Alright…"
The slender redhead pushed two other buttons and the monstrous computer let out a small 'ting' while a picture of a blueberry muffin blinked on the screen.
"And now, we wait," Techie said and pushed against the desk to roll back and face Matt, who immediately pulled Techie closer.
"And I know just the right way for us to wait," he whispered suggestively as his hands wrapped themselves around Techie's and rose them to his nose to gently kiss one, then the other, making his friend chuckle.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible. The delivery is usually very efficient," Techie said but let Matt continue kissing his hands again, and again, and again.
"How," a kiss, "efficient?" another kiss.
"Very very efficient."
Matt smiled and kissed his way up Techie's arm to his absolutely delight.
"They can't possibly-" Matt started before being interrupted by the doorbell.
"Very very very very efficient," Techie replied with a smile.
He unfolded himself from his comfortable swivel chair and hurried to the door which he opened after entering his password.
"Good evening, Master Technician," the household droid greeted him, holding a tray with a single muffin between his metallic arms.
"Good evening Albert," Techie replied.
They watched the droid wobble to the dining table where he slid the tray. He straightened and turned.
"Thank you Albert," Techie said and Matt swore he almost saw the droid smile.
But droids couldn't smile, could they? They definitively couldn't. He was sure of that. He shrugged it off and filed that remark under 'Techie effect'. That little man had that effect on him. Whenever he was feeling down, when he missed Kylo Ren for their daily routine, or when a Trooper tripped on him when he was repairing the ship and accidently kicked him in the shin, he rushed to Techie's quarters and immediately felt better. His friend had that effect on everyone.
Well, everyone who actually talked to Techie.
Well, everyone who talked to Techie when he left his special room and joined the crew in the cafeteria to have a chat. Which was a big never due to his acute anxiety, agoraphobia, and global awkwardness.
Well, the handful of people who knew the guy.
Well, that would be himself. And General Hux apparently, who ordered a complete redesign of these quarters, which were originally for high-ranked officers only, just to accommodate his protégé. So, a total of two.
Matt turned to watch the droid leave the room while Techie grabbed the muffin and proudly brought to him.
"You named that C-20 unit Albert?" Matt asked after taking the dessert.
"He told me he liked that name," Techie explained as he sat down in his chair. Matt could hear the wiring of his eyes adjust to the change of light. "And now he insists on calling me Master Technician." He smiled. "He's sweet but he's scared he'll get recycled because of his old age." Matt nodded and observed how Techie took a piece of muffin with his long and slender fingers before bringing it to his lips. He chewed for a couple of seconds and gave an appreciative hum. "I assured him that wouldn't happen." He gave a knowing smile to Matt who immediately understood.
"What if the General learns about it?" Matt asked. "Wouldn't you get in trouble?"
Techie smile immediately fell before returning with full force. "There are no more troubles for me," he started. "They're all behind me, I'm safe now." He nodded, giving himself a few seconds to gather his thoughts. "He trusts me," he declared. "As I trust him. He will keep me safe. As safe as one can be in a war, which is actually way safer than with Mama on Peachtrees!"
"I'm here!" Matt couldn't help but affirm. "I'll protect you!" he assured. He needed Techie to know that. He cared a lot about that sweet man, more than he believed he ever could care about another human being. Even if General Hux had all the force and resources of the First Order behind him, Matt still felt as his duty to help, protect and care about Techie.
His friendship with Techie had recently taken a new turn. They were now boyfriends, after Matt had asked the programmer out during a terribly embarrassing moment when, kneeling down to express his feelings, Techie had thought Matt was asking him to marry him, to which Techie had shouted an enthusiastic 'Yes! I'll marry you!', then had realized his mistake. Followed an awkward conversation of "You do?","I do!","But we're not boyfriends.","I'm sorry.","You don't want to date me?","Of course I want to!","But you want to get married?","No! I don't!","Now you don't?".
After a couple of minutes leaving them blushing messes, they had cleared that up and decided they were now boyfriends. And the moment Matt's lips touched Techie's, he felt his heart explode of joy. It was the best day of his life. Which was a lot considering for years his favorite day was when he first met Kylo Ren.
"I know you will," Techie replied with such a sweet smile that Matt jumped out of his office chair to hug his lover. "Mattie?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you just squashed the muffin on my back?"
"I'm sorry!" Matt shouted, immediately letting Techie go and withdrawing by at least two meters. "I'll clean that up!"
"It's fine, don't worry. I'm sorry for your dessert though," Techie said in a gentle voice, trying to calm his friend down.
Without managing to refrain himself, Matt was all over Techie once again, holding him tight in his arms. He never wanted to let him go but the little taps against his biceps reminded him he shouldn't squeeze too much. Techie was mostly bones and skin despite a soft tummy that Matt loved to poke.
He remembered that day, when he had tried to rewire two cables to connect the D-76 to the ZX extension of the UTH7K part. A nightmare. Three of his coworkers had yelled at him, the superior officer had refused to let him have lunch before it was fixed, because of the false pretense that it had been his fault that the console short-circuited. As if it had been somehow because of him that the mouse droid had darted between his legs, made him trip and spill his caf on said console. It had been the droid who had done it! Not him! Sometimes the First Order could really be unfair.
There he had been, lying on the floor on his back, when he had heard a beep coming from his comlink. At first, he had ignored it. But after repeated beeps, it had gotten on his nerves.
"What?" he had yelled.
The sweetest, most compassionate voice he had ever heard, told him how to rewire more efficiently before going silent for a few days.
It had seemed like an angel had been watching over him as each time he had been in a pinch, that soft voice had helped him out. And by the end of the month, for the first time since he had joined the tech section, he had not been elected 'most useless employee of the month'.
He had tried to talk to the voice whenever he could and soon they developed a friendship. Matt was living in the tech quarters, which were deep inside the Finalizer, closer to the machines and the core for enhanced reaction time in case of an emergency. He shared a room with three other technicians and barely managed some alone time to chat.
But they made it work, and one day Techie told him where to find him. The moment he laid eyes on his friend, his mind went blank. He remained still for so long that Techie feared a stroke and called the medic unit who rushed in only seconds later. That was when Matt realized he never wanted to leave Techie's side. But also that his friend was the most valuable asset on the ship after Kylo Ren, hence everything at his disposition, from medical aid to absolutely anything for his comfort. And finally, he found out that when Techie was surprised, for example by a sudden bone crushing hug from Matt, he would squeak. A true, honest-to-god, squeak. And Matt loved it.
"Are you lost in your thoughts again?" Techie asked while removing his long sleeved shirt to shake the crumbs on the floor.
"Just a bit," Matt admitted.
"Thinking about Kylo Ren's eight pack?" Techie teased.
"I don't always think about his abs," Matt objected. "Not always," he insisted under Techie's knowing smile. "He's shredded!" he urged as if that would be enough for an explanation.
To Matt's surprise, Techie kept his undershirt on but walked back to Matt and as if he had done this a thousand times, sat comfortably on his laps.
"Are you thinking about me now?" he teased.
"Yes. Yes!"
"Good."
Slowly, Techie took Matt's glasses off his nose and laid them on the desk, then gently caressed the blond locks and put them behind his ears. Matt was mesmerized, as always when it came to Techie. Even more so when Techie took control. And now that he finally kissed his boyfriend, his brain functions gave up from sensory overload. His whole world could be resumed in one name only: Techie.
~ FIN ~
