Nothing Against Looking
Admiration 2.
Rex wiped his face on a towel, blotting sweat away from his eyes, then wrapped the cloth around his neck to catch any droplets that might be rolling down the back of his head. His muscles ached in the familiar, welcome way of a good workout. Next would be time for a nice hot shower, then on to the business of the day.
As usual, though, he paused before leaving. General Skywalker and Commander Tano were doing one of their practice lightsaber bouts, and it was hard not to stop and watch for a moment. Their practice sessions were the only time any of the clones could ever see the Jedi using their lightsabers without being under fire. Usually the hum of the weapons was as deadly sounding as it was welcoming amid a firefight. It still sounded welcoming, but now the blades hummed a friendlier tune.
This way, just being practice, he could appreciate the grace. Skywalker clearly had the upper hand, and he pressed his advantage. Ahsoka swept to the side, dodging, Skywalker's blue blade meeting only air as she spun, her small body pirouetting, lithe and light. She was visibly concentrating, focused on the battle, but there was a smile playing on her lips, one of pure enjoyment of the practice. Her eyes were intent, but laughing. She leapt, body tucking into a neat little ball as she rotated mid-air, then landed, her lekku bouncing around her shoulders. It was a difficult move, and her bright eyes reflected triumph for a moment before she was again under attack.
He used the edge of his towel to wipe away some more sweat forming on his upper lip, and tried to keep it from curling upward into a smile.
He wasn't the only one watching the Jedi. No one would think anything strange of his admiration for Ahsoka's ability to gracefully defend against their rather aggressive General. No one would know that he was also paying attention to her in a way that acknowledged the smoothness of her skin as well as the smoothness of her strikes. It wasn't right. There had to be a rule against it somewhere: No noticing your commanding officer in inappropriate ways.
Fraternization, though, was all about actions.
As far as he knew, regulations had nothing against looking.
I wanted to thank everyone for the kind reviews! KittyCaterpillar, BetaReject, Kat, Ahsoka33, TamachanKICK, Elven-spear, Jadedsnowtiger and Captain Kale!
Also, I wanted to take a moment to shamelessly plug my Rex/Ahsoka community here on FFN. There are some wonderful stories in there by many different authors, so if you like this, please check them out! You can get to the 'Captain and Commander' community page off of either my profile (look for the community tab) or from the 'Clone Wars' main page.
Happy reading!
~Queen