AN: Hello Guys I'm back again! Thanks for the reviews and nice comments on the last chapter! I've had ideas for the chapter for a long time but the story has evaded me for a while. Hope you guys like it!
Captain Rex knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up with a crick in his neck from sleeping with his head on the desk. He wouldn't complain, he willfully gave up his bed last night and subjected himself to sleeping against the desk instead of the floor. Stealthily moving into the bathroom, the captain started his morning routine; glancing at his bed, he was thankful to see that his girlfriend was curled up and sleeping soundly. Slowly clipping on the armor plating, Rex contemplated the night before when the normally stoic and confident togrutan padawan had come hunched and shaking to his chambers after a rough nightmare. With an almost inaudible sigh, Rex stood to head out and grab caf and breakfast for the both of them when the young woman stretched and awoke.
"Where you goin'?" She slurred sleepily
The side of his lips twitched into a slight grin "Breakfast and caf. You want some?"
Ahsoka sat up on the edge of the bunk "Give me a minute and I'll go with you."
The couple were quiet as the leisurely strolled to the mess hall for their morning meal; however, when they neared the mess hall they heard suspicious banging and crashing noises and looked to each other in concern.
"You think the boys started another food fight?" The commander questioned the other
"Only of they all want to scrub the mess today."
"It might keep them busy for a while." Ahsoka smiled a little as they stopped outside the doors
Rex gave her a lopsided grin before hitting the door panel…. And stopping dead in his tracks. Instead of Torrent troopers eating the morning meal together and chattering, or even a massive food fight, every trooper was standing around with empty food trays, smacking them against the table, their armored legs, or with their utensils. When a few of the troopers caught sight of their superior officers they nudged the others and the din quieted.
"Care to explain why the mess hall is now a band room?" the Captain asked
Silence reigned for a minute until Tub and Dogma stepped forward.
"The mess is out of caf sir." Tub started
And Dogma finished "And they haven't even started breakfast and the droids say it won't be ready for another hour."
Rex sighed and pressed his finger to the bridge of his nose.
"So I'll ask again… Why does it sound like a room of drums in here?"
"We're protesting." Tub stated plainly before Dogma could start again
Rex and Ahsoka glanced at each other again
"So I guess we're not getting our caf or our breakfast."
"Yay."
"It's going to be a long day."
Things turned sour quickly when all the men realized they weren't going to get breakfast or more importantly, their caf; and it only got worse when the general realized this fact. After two hours of protesting troopers in the mess, Captain Rex had to finally shut out all the troopers from the mess halls and order them to not attack the service droids. Frustrated, hungry, and without their life blood of caffeine, the troopers quickly started getting into more trouble. A couple of fights broke out over secret stashes of caf which Rex quickly ended and confiscated the stashes much to the disgruntlement of the troopers. Ahsoka had her hands full with the general and his crabby mood throughout the day. In the afternoon, after a cold lunch when the caf machines were still not working, Anakin even tried sneaking into Rex's quarters to sneak some of the confiscated caf. In order to maintain a semblance of sanity on the ship, the admiral finally ordered everyone back to their quarters or the training rooms until dinner; and for a while things were quiet. Rex sat in his office finishing reports and trying to massage the knots out of his shoulders and neck when a shinnie came rushing through the door.
"Sir you have to come to training room 25-A. It's big stuff and you have to see it."
With a groan, Rex hauled himself up and out of the room towards the training room.
And if he thought the actions of the day were bad he was totally unprepared for what he faced; and judging by the curse he swore he heard leave his girlfriend's lips as she slid to a stop next to him, she wasn't prepared for it either.
"Language." He murmured under his breath, his eyes still glued to the scene in front of him
"Kuur" Ahsoka hissed at him, still staring at the same scene.
It seemed like all the repelling line on the entire ship had been unwound and released from their spools and hung on the ceiling of the training room. Some of the boys had climbed up into the lines with blankets to make precarious hammocks and others were trying to race each other up the lines, pulling each other down and swinging into each other in an attempt to knock each other down.
"How did this happen so fast? The order to stay in the training rooms or barracks only came out an hour and a half ago." Ahsoka half yelled incredulously
"In our defense Commander, we were bored and needed some way to ease the frustration of the day." The shinnie piped up
"I thought we were crazy on caf…" Rex trailed off, half in awe of the spectacle, half frustrated that he couldn't keep the men under control for a day.
"What are we going to do?" Ahsoka deferred to the captain
"I say leave them as they are since they aren't technically breaking the rules and go back to our quarters and take a nap while we can." He grinned, glancing down at the young woman at his side"I know you didn't sleep well for half the night and neither did I, so I vote we both go catch up on some sleep while we can."
Ahsoka stretched "Maybe while I'm at it I'll shock the pants off Anakin and meditate for a while too."
Around dinner Ahsoka wandered back into Rex's room with two trays of cold dinner and flavored water instead of the usual hot caf.
"Here. The droids still can't make the meals hot and the caf machines are still broken. So cold dinner and I managed to scrounge up two water flavorings to try and make the meals at least easier to choke down." The togruta slid the tray across the desk towards the man
"Well it's better than nothing I guess. I think I might even have some old crackers for what looks like soup." Rex pushed his chair back and stood up. "Take the chair, I'll sit on the bunk."
Instead of taking the chair, Ahsoka plopped down on the floor. "Let's level the playing field. No one takes the desk or bunk, for eating for sleeping." A knowing look held in her eyes
Rex nodded and sat down on the floor across from her and started eating his cold dinner in poorly concealed disgust. The other person in the room did not bother to conceal their disgust and choked on their food.
"Ugh. Ration bars are better than this."
"Glad I'm not the only one who thought that." Rex coughed on his bite of food before pushing his tray away and reaching for the drawer under his bunk.
He produced a handful of ration bars and passed two to Ahsoka who eagerly pushed the cold meal away and started in on the bars.
"I wanted to thank you but…" Outside the room there were sounds of a scuffle, cursing, and banging "But with everything going on today I forgot."
"Thank me for what?" Rex seemed genuinely confused
"For letting me sleep here last night and sleeping against the desk instead. I know you probably didn't sleep well in that position or worrying about me."
"For you, a sore neck is a small price to pay for your sense of mind."
Ahsoka leaned across the space and kissed her boyfriend solidly on the lips.
"I Love you, Rexster. Vor entye for looking out for me."
"Gar cuyir morutar, Cyar'ika. Ni kar'taylir darasuum gar."
He kissed her this time.
AN: Hope you liked this chapter! Hope it was a good mix of funny and sweet. Please review and leave any ideas you guys have! Please be considerate of the fact that I am only able to post during breaks, because I am in college and school gets very busy very quickly when I have 16 credit hours. Thank you to all my faithful readers and reviewers, you guys make my day!
Kuur- Shut up
Vor entye- Thank you
Gar cuyir morutar, Cyar'ika.Ni kar'taylir darasuumgar- You are welcome, sweetheart. I love you.