Rex wasn't sure how he ended up in Ahsoka's room.
Well, that wasn't quite the truth. He knew exactly how his Commander had gotten him there. She'd accosted him in the hallway and dragged him into her room. Ahsoka had just kept talking about how she needed to practice her camouflage skills and with Anakin gone, he was her only friend who could help. There was his answer. The kid had tugged on his heartstrings. He couldn't say no to a friend in need. This is why Rex sat in the middle of her floor, surrounded by open paint cans. No primary colors. Whites and greys and greens and browns. The orange, the closest match to Ahsoka's skin tone, stood out in the midst of the dull tones.
She came out of the refresher attached to her room, juggling a cup of water and paper towels. "I think that's everything!" She announced.
Rex raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you need brushes for this?"
"Technically yes," Ahsoka admitted. She carefully set down the water and then tossed the towels. They littered all around them, barely missing the paint, some settling on Rex's boots. "But in Torgutan culture, camouflage is done with one's hands."
"Seems rather messy to me." Rex watched as she settled down in front of him, crossed legged.
"Killing is messy," Ahsoka said softly. "If you cannot bear to mess up your own features, then you do not understand the weight of killing a bird or an Akul."
Rex sucked in a breath. He could see a tiny Ahsoka covered in green and brown paint. Creeping along in the brush, pouncing on an unexpecting bird. Tearing into it with her sharp teeth. Torgrutas were known for their fierce predator nature. If Ahsoka hadn't been taken in by the Jedi, she probably would have killed a couple of Akul by now. She'd already participated in a hunt by the teeth on her headdress.
She smiled at him. "Or something like that. I can't remember exactly what the elders said to me. It was such a long time ago."
"What kind of look are you going for today?" Rex asked.
Ahsoka winked. "I'm going to turn you into a Togruta."
"I thought you were practicing camouflage?"
"You have to look like one first! The camouflage is supposed to complement your markings."
"Right," He said dryly. "Get the paint to match my wrinkles. "
"Not like that, Rexster." Ahsoka rolled her eyes. She extended her arm towards him. "You'll see."
Rex reluctantly let her touch him. He wasn't sure how to react to it. Touch was a foreign concept. The last time someone had touched his face was a medic about six months ago for a checkup. Rex was pretty sure that a girl had never touched his face before. Her hand was… warm. Thank the force that he wasn't anywhere around his men. If they saw him like this, it would encourage them to take liberties with their Commander. Liberties that Rex had no intention of ever granted them. Just the thought of a trooper trying made him tense.
"Try not to move as much as possible," Ahsoka said, holding his face in one hand. The other she dipped into an orange can.
Rex closed his eyes. It felt rather… uncomfortable to keep his eyes open so close to his commander. Not with her fingers on his skin, dragging cool paint along his forehead and cheeks. The pressure alternated as the art demanded. Light, smooth taps over his cheeks and almost digging strokes from the pad of her thumbs. If he opened his eyes, he'd be staring into hers. Her tongue stuck out as she concentrated, her own face markings scrunching with her eyebrows as she tried to replicate them on him.
"Stop frowning Rex, it's just paint." She tsked.
He took a quick peek at her. It was just as he imagined. Cute.
Rex quickly shut his eyes. His commander was not cute. She was strong and fierce and deadly and funny and a lot of other adjectives that were escaping his mind. He'd never had any problems looking at her before. Why was it so difficult now? It must be sleep deprivation. He really should have hunted down a second cup of caf.
She was working quickly. The paint dried fast. She rubbed down the sides of his neck, trying to cover as much skin as possible. Some probably got on his shirt collar. Rex honestly couldn't tell. He'd checked out of his brain at this point. The combination of her hands and the texture of the paint was too overwhelming.
The pressure stopped. He heard the sound of hands wiping on a towel, then Ahsoka's voice. "That looks good."
Click.
Rex's eyes popped open to see Ahsoka had produced a datapad.
"Ahsoka. " Rex warned.
"It's just for my personal records!"
"You are not allowed to show that to anyone!"
"Yeah, yeah, let me just take one more picture…." She started tapping the screen vigorously.
Rex threw up his hands in front of his face. "That's more than one picture!" He cried.
She giggled. She hadn't stopped tapping the screen. She swung an arm around his neck and held up the screen. "Say cheese!"
Rex jerked back at the sight of himself.
He looked like the Forcemart edition of Ahsoka. She'd copied the design of her markings onto her face so that they were almost identical in the camera lens. If he had montrals, they could have been siblings.
"Does it look bad?" Her voice faltered. Ashoka lowered the datapad, searching his face for his response.
"I prefer my natural look," Rex admitted. It didn't look bad, just different. She did a very good job matching the colors and copying her markings without a reference. "The paint certainly looks realistic."
Ahsoka's features brightened. "Great!"
"But, I think I'm done being your model for today." Rex picked up a paper towel and dipped it in the water. He moved to wipe off the paint. Nothing came off. His brow furrowed. "What the-"
Ahsoka's mouth formed an 'o' shape.
"Ahsoka, what did you put on my face?"
"I guess Torguta skin reacts differently than human skin with homemade paint …."
Rex gave up trying to wipe the paint. What did the Togruta's put in their paint? Oil? "It's not even smearing!"
"Maybe check the medbay? They should have something strong enough to wipe it off…"
"'Just paint', you said," Rex grumbled, pushing himself to his feet.
"I'm sorry! I thought it was!" Ahsoka reached for him, but Rex didn't see it.
"I know you meant well," Rex said. "I'll see you at the debriefing."
Her shoulders slumped. "Okay, Rex."
Rex left her room quickly. He'd find Kix on the Medbay deck. He'd have a solution strong enough to remove this paint. Rex was sure of it. At this hour, all of the men would be in their barracks. Kix knew how to keep his mouth shut.
And if he was honest with himself, despite any strange looks from Kix or time wasted trying to remove the kriffing paint, Rex knew that Ahsoka painting his face was the highlight of his week.
And that is how Rex walked in on the emergency meeting Fives called, thus sealing his fate.
I have a few more bonus chapters that I can do for this fic. Let me know if there's any scene that you wish you could have Rex or Ahsoka's Pov on. ;) Just a Fairytale is caught up on the rewrite and I only have about two or three chapters left to write for it.
Thanks for viewing and I hope your day is lovely!