Chapter Summary

Things get a bit heated during a post battle celebration.

The battle had been absolutely exhausting but they had finally cleared all the clankers from the small forest town on Kashyyyk. The Wookiee were fierce warriors but with the planets proximity to major trade routes the separatists were throwing everything they had at them. The regular droids weren't coordinated enough to do well among the trees and vines but those acrobatic commando droids had no issue dropping from trees leaving destruction in their wake.

Thank the force for the Jedi, General Skywalker cut through with his usual determination and Ahsoka had gracefully jumped from tree to tree dropping tinnys and clearing a safe path for his brothers to follow. His heart had swelled with pride when he watched her use a branch to take out a clanker using a staff technique he had taught her.
The villagers were eager to celebrate the overthrow of their tyrants and made it quite clear they wanted to throw a feast for their heros. The whole thing made Rex uncomfortable, he was no hero, he was simply a clone doing the job he was made for, however once General Skywalker accepted the invitation there was nothing he could do but try and enjoy it.

The feast had been excellent except for the large grey grub that apparently was a local delicacy. The trail of slime it left behind and it's faint wiggling was almost enough to turn him off the whole meal. He watched in horror as the movement became stronger until the vile bug lifted completely off his plate. His startled gasp was silenced by a nudge from Ahsoka at his side and he realized that she was taking on to her own plate so he wouldn't have to eat it. Kriff he didn't know what he had done to deserve such a thoughtful friend.

"Thank you"

He muttered, trying not to let their hosts become aware of the switch

"Don't thank me yet"

Shooting him a conspiratorial wink,

"I'm expecting you to take my mushrooms"

He laughed as he remembered her barely disguised revulsion for the fungus. He turned fully to face her as he surreptitiously took the mushrooms from her plate,

"I don't get it commander, how can you possibly be fine eating slimy bugs but perfectly normal mushrooms are somehow too much?"

"You forget that I am from a species of carnivores, it's not appetizing but it is protein. Mushrooms on the other hard give me nothing but indigestion"

"Well sir than I suppose I can save you from such a horrible fate, given how many clankers you cleared today it really is the least I can do"

The Wookiees had also provided a local ale that would have had a regular man unable to look straight. The Kaminoans were a sober species and therefore they ensured that the clones wouldn't be susceptible to anything but the strongest of drinks. It tasted nice though and Jessie and Fives were certainly trying to find their limit.

Ahsoka, no he reminded himself, the Commander had tried a large gulp of his and, coughing, had handed it right back to him.

"No thanks Rexter, I'd like to be able to remember this campaign by tomorrow"

He had laughed again and she was struck by how the firelight cast dancing shadows across his jaw, she resisted the urge to reach out and feel the stubble there.

'That's odd, I see his face every day, so why did his smile just make my heart flutter? That ale must have been more potent than I realized,' she thought to herself. After all she had knew that the clones had been engineered to be perfect male specimens, but she had never taken the time to decide for herself if they were attractive to her personally. She could tell Rex was getting confused by her stare so she switched her gaze down the table to fives. He was less likely to notice her inspection which made him a safer choice to observe.

His strong brow, proud nose and chiseled jaw were definitely pleasant to look at, and she knew already how captivating those deep brown eyes could be.
Her closest men all joked that she would let them get away with almost anything if they had good enough puppy dog eyes. She smiled at the distant memory of Rex elaborating battle plans on Christofsis, where she had missed almost every word because she was drawn in by the handsome man she had just met... but that had been a silly fleeting crush years ago, so why was she suddenly fighting the urge to caress Rex's cheek or run her hands through his hair.

She was sure he would buzz it as soon as they were home but for now the rugged look really suited him. Goodness what was she even thinking about, this was ridiculous.

She stood awkwardly and moved towards where the tables had all been cleared to the sides to make room for a dance circle. Some exercise was sure to clear that stupid drink from her system. He stood with her automatically, despite not knowing where she was headed,

"Are you going to come dance with me Captain?"

She asked, throwing him another little wink.

A small battle immediately began in his mind, on one hand he really wanted an excuse to touch her which dancing would provide, on the other hand she was his Jedi commander and he had forbade himself from indulging in those kind of thoughts. After the training incident a few weeks ago he had been careful to keep his physical distance whenever possible and it would be unwise to break that damn. Reluctantly he said

"Oh ah um no thank you, I'm not a good dancer and I'd prefer if my men still respected me tomorrow"

"Suit yourself Captain. Fives, Jessie, come and dance!"

They obliged at once, even the General joined the circle and Rex sank back into his chair kicking himself. Of course he was reading more into this than she intended. This was a casual group event to learn more about a local culture, he decided he would join in at the next opportunity but for now he may as well enjoy the show.

The Wookiees organized the dancers in to a boy girl boy pattern, at least he thought so, it was hard to identify a female Wookiee but Ahsoka was placed between Jessie and Fives.
The drums began slowly but quickly became an almost frenzied beat as the dance began, it took his squad a bit to catch the choreography but once they did Rex felt his stomach clench painfully as he watched on in horror as Fives, copying the pair across from them, grabbed his commanders waist and pulled her close to him, rocking to the beat before moving on to spins and dips.

Rex felt his grip on the table grow ever tighter as he watched his brothers hand caress her bare stomach as she spun past and he certainly didn't miss the blush on Fives face when she leaned in to whisper something in his ear as she was being pulled in tightly again. Dank Farrik he knew something like this would happen!

He had been more aware of Five's interactions with the Commander since their conversation in the med bay and he was sure that his vod had not been entirely truthful when he said he was just teasing Rex...
Harmless flirting was one thing but now he might be in real trouble. If Rex couldn't control his heart rate when she was simply nearby, then there was no way that his brother was going to forget how it felt to have her hips move against his.

Ok that's it, he stood rapidly, ready to put a stop to this, he had to save his vod'ika from this temptation. 'Sure it's for his sake not yours' a snide little voice in his head said 'it's not that you can't stand to watch another man touch her. it's that you're being noble right... well it's pathetic, either admit that you're jealous and go cut in or sit down and trust your friend.'

As much as Rex hated it he knew that his subconscious wasn't totally wrong, they could handle themselves. But jealous? That was ridiculous, if he was jealous than that would mean that his devotion to his friend was veering into dangerous territory.

Still he couldn't ignore the pounding in his ears and the tight grip on his stomach as he watched her spin into Jessie's waiting arms. Two of his brothers now had casually got to do what he had been literally dreaming of and he wanted to pound them for it. Unfortunately he couldn't think of another description for that feeling other than jealousy. 'Kriff it, than I guess I'm jealous, I'm also a bit drunk and I could get shot tomorrow and die without ever going for what I want.'

With that foolish rationalization he walked over and forced his way into the circle on Jessie's other side, hopefully he had calculated correctly and that as they traded partners she would come to him next. It didn't take long to wait before she spun towards him beaming,

"Rex! You came to join us, oh I'm so glad"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued the dance she'd been learning. He remained frozen in place, unsure if he was more thrown by her obvious delight in his presence or simply by how close she was to him. Concerned at his lack of response she leaned up to to whisper instructions in his ear which, while well meaning, really didn't help his rapidly growing problem but did snap him into action

"Ok Rexter, it's a bit confusing, but I think you're supposed to guide my hips to the rhythm, then a few spins a dip and then we switch. Ok?"

He nodded and grabbed her hips, pulling her close to him and trying to follow the rhythm all the while being profoundly grateful for his plastiod armor that kept parts of him hidden. He had held her close before but those times had always been due to a crisis, like a dire injury and he had been wearing gloves but this was completely different. Now he could appreciate her silky soft skin without having to look for a blaster wound.

Speaking of, his fingers rose up a bit and found the scar on her ribs from when she had taken that hit for him a few rotations ago. He didn't miss the subtle tremor that ran through her as he caressed her side and her soft gasp near his ear lead to a decidedly painful pinch from his now much too small codpiece. 'Ok Rex,' he told himself firmly 'get a hold of yourself this was a mistake to get into and is far more temptation than you can handle so just focus on battle strategy's and copying the other dancers and try your best to ignore how beautiful she looks right now.'

As if she could sense his turmoil she reached up to gently caress his cheek,

"Are you alright Rex? The force around you is jumbled and I'm sorry that I pressured you into this, I didn't mean to embarrass you, the song just ended so if you'd like to be done I can claim a headache and escorting me back can be your excuse to leave early"

He coughed to cover up his little sigh as she touched his face and scratched his chin like he usually did in awkward situations to buy him some time to think. She was technically offering him what he needed, time to himself to get his thoughts in order and maybe a cold trip to the refresher, but between now then they would have a long walk, just the two of them together in a beautiful forest where no one would know if they took a detour to spend time pressed up against a tree, her legs wrapped up around his waist as she gasped his name...

Woah woah woah stop right there. He must have had more of that drink than he intended. Looking around he realized that she had already gone to speak to General Skywalker about them leaving early. Well looks like the choice has been made for me he supposed, sure he could send Fives to escort her but at that thought the same image reappeared in his head, but with her moaning the name of a different man with much darker hair... grimacing he quickly shoved that horrible image aside and fell into step beside her.

They were silent for a while and Ahsoka was cursing her foolishness, what had possessed her to think that dancing with them would be a good distraction from her sudden attraction to her friends... She had just about convinced herself that it was the alcohol and handsome men in general that had her flustered, nothing to do with the specific man at her side, but when he had joined her in the circle his simple touch had raised her heart rate more that Jessie and Fives combined. The thought of his fingers softly caressing her ribs still brought shivers. She was trying hard to respect his privacy by not reading his emotions through their bond but his obvious struggle had been hard to miss.

For a moment she had seen his eyes darken and drop to her lips, causing her to think that maybe she wasn't the only one affected by their proximity, but that was nonsense. This was Captain Rex of the Grand Army of the Republic, a model soldier and hero of the army who was teased by his brothers for never even having a dirty picture of a woman, much less something silly like feelings or desire. Her musings were interrupted when he broke the companionable silence

"Thank you Commander, I think that ale was stronger than I realized"

Yes it certainly was something...

"Agreed, at least you have more experience with alcohol than I do, don't you all go to that clone bar whenever you're on Courasant? 89s?"

"79s, yes the men like to waste their credits there, but it's never really been my style. Even if it wouldn't hurt my credibility with my men I still prefer not to cut loose, not like Cody for example."

He spent the rest of the trek to their camp distracting himself by regaling her with stories of his brothers exploits, talking about those he served with helped keep his focus where it belonged instead of wandering down forbidden paths

"so then General Kenobi himself ended up falling off the table and busting a chair, that was the last time they tried to have a drinking competition with him around"

In between peals of laughter she got out

"Thank you for telling me that! He gets so stiff and condescending sometimes so it's nice to know that there's a real person in there. Can I come with you all next time you go? It sounds like fun?"

At his grumbled protest she added

"Don't worry I don't want to get really drunk, if I don't like being tipsy I'm sure I won't like being wasted. Besides, I'll have you to look out for me and scare off any skugs right?"

She bumped his shoulder with her own and winked at him. Well he supposed 79s would be a lot more appealing with her at his side. As they came into view of their ship he said

"oh I suppose but we wouldn't stay for long and I think General Skywalker would kill me if I let you have more than one drink."

"Hooray! Well thank you for walking me back, and for having my back against the tinnys today."

"Right back at ya kid. Well Goodnight Commander."

Rex headed down to the barracks, determined to take that cold refresher he still needed and hopefully he could forget about how unprofessionally he had behaved tonight.

Ahsoka on the other hand headed up to the room she and Skyguy had dedicated to meditation. She had some attachment issues she needed to process. She knew that the Jedi for thousands of years had practiced foregoing emotional attachments but it was never something she had been good at and it was becoming increasingly difficult the more time she spent with all of her friends in the 501st.

As she became one with the force in her meditation couldn't help but notice how much stronger her connection with it felt when she accessed her bond with Rex. How was it that the force was made of connections but force users were supposed to forgo them? She had been trying not to think of Rex at all, especially not his warm eyes and the look in them as she had moved her hips with his... Shaking her head she tried to pull her mind back to the exercise. The whole point of this was to release those attachments but it was proving impossible while she could feel his presence in the back of her mind. She knew the wise thing to do now would be to sever that bond, for both their sakes.

Something stopped her, it seemed unfair to make such a big choice for him, and if she was being honest she wanted to keep it, even if it was just so that she could never be surprised with news that he had fallen in battle.

Sighing she rose and headed to her room, clearly she wasn't strong enough yet to make the selfless choice. Hopefully soon she would be, before he figured it out on his own.