-Chapter 73: This is Awkward-

Location: Jedi Temple/The Dominance

"What is awkward now will be hilarious later."

"This is sooooo perfect!" Wraith cackled as he crouched in his hiding place. His plan was flawless, perfectly designed and just waiting to be executed. All that was needed was one individual... and the individual he had in mind wasn't far away.

The Republic was here for data, oblivious to the fact Wraith was already planetside and had secured the information away. He figured he'd construct a neat little trap and humiliate them before floating about his victory and then leaving. It seemed almost too good to be true.

Through his crimson optics, Wraith watched the only entrance into the room. His trap was rigged not far in front of it, giving his victim only a few seconds to feel safe before his trap was sprung.

His sensors detected an incoming thermal reading and Wraith chuckled to himself. But his laughter died almost instantly when the individual came into view.

It was not Anakin Skywalker. Instead, it was Ahsoka.

"Oh kriff me!" Wraith cursed under his breath. Why did she have to show up first? Springing from his hiding place, Wraith made his presence known. "Ahsoka!" He called.

"Oh! Hey Wraith." Ahsoka greeted with a smile. "What're you doing here?" She asked with a slightly mischievous look.

"I could ask you the same thing, since I was here first." Wraith responded.

"We're looking for some data cubes. You know, small, blue, glowing things full of information. Seen them?" Ahsoka playfully asked.

"Like the stuff I just smuggled out of here yesterday? Nope, haven't seen them." Wraith playfully answered.

"Why do I get the feeling you're lying...?" Ahsoka asked, crossing her arms and shooting him a grin.

"I haven't the foggiest notion. But, cross my heart and hope to die, they're not here." Wraith explained, trying to convince Ahsoka to move on. If he told her, she would for sure tell Anakin and he really didn't want that to happen.

"Then you won't mind if I... take a look?" She wondered, taking a few steps into the room.

"No! Wait!" Wraith cried, trying to stop her. It was then that he took one step too far and felt the floor depress as he stepped on the trigger. "Sithspit." He managed to get out before a sudden explosion engulfed them both.

An explosion of colour.

By the time Ahsoka opened her eyes, the floor and Wraith were covered in a myriad of green blue and pink. Giving herself a quick once over, she discovered she was too.

"What in the universe...?" She slowly muttered, wiping off a splotch of substance coating her abdomen. It felt thick and vicious yet also like liquid in her hand. "Is this... paint?!" She wondered in exclamation.

"Yeah... it is. It was meant for Skywalker." Wraith explained with a sigh. So much for humiliation...

"You... made a paint trap for Skyguy?" Ahsoka realized with an almost deadpan look.

"It was supposed to humiliate him. And now I'm the one looking like an idiot."

"Well, you know what they say, 'the best laid plans-'"

"'Tend to go awry.' I'm familiar with it." Wraith replied, finishing the phrase. Ahsoka continued to examine herself, doing her best to wipe her face clean while discovering her montrals were equally covered.

"Ugh. Now I gotta have a shower." She grumbled in disgust.

"Need some help with that?" Wraith jokingly asked. Ahsoka let out a chuckle to hide her dismay at the notion and threw the excess paint in her hand at him. The green blob landed on his chest, quickly mixing with the pink already there. "So that's how it's gonna be...?" Wraith mused, collecting a bunch of paint from his arm and flinging it towards Ahsoka. The Togruta squealed and started moving, trying to avoid getting hit. As she did, Ahsoka grabbed more paint and returned fire, giggling as she did. Wraith started laughing as well as the paint war escalated. Ahsoka's Force-assisted aim was good, but Wraith's hand-eye coordination was equally good, both of them trading shots of paint wads.

"Ahaha! Stop it!" Ahsoka laughed, raising her arms to block twin blobs of yellow.

"You stop it!" Wraith shot back as he flung another wad of paint in her direction, laughing as he did. The two teens went back and forth like that for a while, using whatever excesses they could scrape from their multicoloured bodies. Wraith could see the sparkle of genuine happiness in Ahsoka's eyes as they gathered up paint like snow to throw at each other. There was something so natural about that look that made Wraith determined to make her laugh more often. This was the real Ahsoka shining through; the fun-loving, energetic young woman he'd fallen in love with while the Jedi wanted stifled.

Armed with wads in both hands, Wraith closed in on the laughing Togruta. Ahsoka tried to fend him off with her own blob, but it fell short and splattered against his shin guard. Unfortunately for Wraith, there was so much paint on the ground, not even his boots could get a grip. Losing his footing one one step, Wraith suddenly fell flat on his back, the paint dropping from his grip. His arm reflexively reaching out, he grabbed Ahsoka by accident and pulled her down with him. She landed on his chest as they both hit the floor, laughing all the while. The fall didn't seem to bother Ahsoka in the slightest and she sat up, giggling and chuckling as she did and pausing to glance over Wraith's green, blue and pink body. Their combined laughter died down, Wraith didn't care for the fact Ahsoka was sitting in his lap, only that she was smiling.

"Well... that escalated quickly..." She remarked catching her breath.

"It did." Wraith agreed. Looking up at the Togruta sitting on him, Wraith couldn't help but smile at her brightened features. "It's nice to see you smile. Nice to see you act normal..." He softly told her, one hand reached out to hold her cheek. Ahsoka smiled and leaned into his touch, laughing softly as she did.

"AHEM!" The sudden clearing of a throat jarred them both out of the moment as their gazed jerked to the entrance where someone else was standing.

"Master!" Ahsoka exclaimed, surprised by Anakin's sudden presence. Then she realized the rather... compromising position she was in. "Uhhh... Th-This isn't what it looks like!" She quickly said, trying to cut off any indicators that she and Wraith were up to... things.

"Am I allowed to say I wish this is what it looked like?" Wraith wondered from below her.

"Wraith! Grrr...!" Ahsoka growled in embarrassment as she quickly picked herself up, standing and facing her master, now very flushed in the face.

"I see something's going on here..." Anakin observed, arms crossed and bearing an expression that indicated he was none too pleased.

"Nothing wrong with a friendly little paint war." Wraith mused as he also stood up. "Though, in all fairness, this was rather... impromptu." He added. Anakin said nothing, his frowning gaze transfixed on Wraith. "Was kind fun, though."

"Your fun is over." Anakin finally declared, drawing his lightsaber.

"Typical Jedi." Wraith grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Always there to spoil my fun." Anakin stepped towards him,

"You're coming with us." He growled, practically pushing past Ahsoka to reach Wraith.

"Yeah, ah... no can do." Wraith replied as he took a few steps back, reaching for his belt and triggering his new cloaking device. "Can't catch what you can't see!" He called as he disappeared from view. His colorful boot prints soon disappeared as well, and Anakin could sense the fiery presence grow dimmer and dimmer with every passing second. His senses soon registered nothing more and he growled in disappointment, switching off his lightsaber. Turning on heel with a huff, Anakin marched back to the exit.

"Master, I-" Ahsoka started to say.

"We'll talk about this later, Snips." He cut her off, shooting her a disapproving look as he did.

"Yes Master." A cowed Ahsoka quietly replied, gaze lowering to the floor.


Later that day, in the Jedi Temple...

Ahsoka entered her quarters with a sigh, still covered in paint. The shuttle she and Anakin had taken was not equipped with a refresher or even a shower for her to use to clean herself. Even then, she didn't have anything to wash her clothes with or even something else to wear. So now, with drying paint covering her from head to toe, Ahsoka was greatly interested in getting herself clean. She was fortunate to have a few spare outfits as this one would take a long time to wash.

That, and she was fortunate Anakin didn't want to talk any more. The entire trip back, he'd been lecturing her about how any sort of contact with Wraith was bad and needed to be ended immediately, as well as how she shouldn't have gone ahead of him and should not have engaged in that 'paint war' and-

"Blah blah blah..." She said to herself, recalling how she'd felt as Anakin went on and on. He didn't know Wraith like she did! Wraith was a nice guy, kind and thoughtful. Anakin just had a chip on his shoulder, that's all.

Undoing her belt, Ahsoka proceeded to drop it when her montrals picked up a new sound. Her quarters had been totally quiet beforehand, but now there was some faint noise that had grabbed her attention.

Was that the sound of... running water?

Thinking about what might be causing this, Ahsoka ventured out on a whim and called out, "Wraith?"

"Ahsoka?" Came the reply. Ahsoka smiled and nodded to herself, knowing she'd been right "I'm guessing another one of these connections has opened up." He mused. Indeed, one most certainly had.

"Yep." She agreed, starting to turn around. "I know I've said this before, but I really wish- OH FORCE!" Ahsoka exclaimed before squeezing her eyes shut and looking away.

Wraith was in the middle of a shower.

"I take it you suddenly realized my current situation." He said with a smirk, finding her embarrassment quite hilarious. Blushing furiously, Ahsoka held up a hand to try and avoid the sight before her.

She had gotten an eyeful of Wraith's unclothed body. Again.

"Aren't you the least bit concerned about this?" Ahsoka remarked, sounding very upset. "This is the worst possible time for this to happen!"

"I wouldn't say it's the worst. I can think of a few other moments that are worse than this." Wraith replied, continuing on rather nonchalantly. "Besides, I don't mind if you look. I'm not horrible to look at, am I?" He teased with a chuckle.

"No- I-I-I mean y-yeah, no, wait, NO!" Ahsoka stammered in reply, tripping over her words as she fumbled for an answer, feeling quite warm and not daring to even make eye contact with him. Yes, she thought he was very handsome, downright jaw-dropping in fact, but she really didn't want to voice that out loud.

"It's okay if you do. I most certainly won't fault you for it." Wraith said, scrubbing his auburn hair. Ahsoka hesitantly peeked over her hand, ensuring only Wraith's head and shoulders were visible and not the rest of him.

"A... A Jedi isn't supposed to... i-indulge in something l-like that." Ahsoka managed to say.

"'Indulge', hm? So I'm something of a 'guilty' pleasure' for you, am I?" Wraith mused with a grin, turning and meeting her gaze with his. His amber gaze locked with her wide blue eyes, and Ahsoka felt her features soften and her blushing cheeks flushing even further. The mere sight of his long, wet hair clinging to his defined features and framing the subtle glow of his eyes caused her to whimper and press her legs together.

Kriff me, he's so hot! She thought internally, a reaction to the handsome Wraith that was seemingly automatic nowadays much to her embarrassment.

"Do you think of me as eye candy, my dear?" He asked, Ahsoka unable to form a response. "One might think this is your first time getting to see all of me. Then again, you've already spied on me while I was bathing." Ahsoka's eyes went wide at his statement, fear shooting through her veins as Wraith had seemingly found out about her little mishap on Scarif.

"I... W-What are you talking abou-" She stuttered, Wraith cutting in.

"Back on Scarif. I knew you were there in the brush, watching me while I was in the spring. I was gonna use that against you when you flipped out on me accidentally walking in on your bath time, which really was an accident... but then something else happened..." He explained. Ahsoka knew exactly what he was referring to: the moment he professed his love to her.

"Y-Yeah..." She affirmed, still struck by the notion Wraith knew about her accidentally watching him.

"I suppose we're even now, wouldn't you say?" Wraith asked as he grabbed a bottle of soap.

"I-I guess so." She agreed, clearing her throat. "L-Look, I'm gong to have a shower too. I need one more than you do." She told him, thankful there was a small one in her personal refresher. "So if this... portal-thingy follows me... please don't look." She pleaded with him.

"You deserve your privacy, Ahsoka. I promise I won't accidentally stumble across you bathing again." Wraith genuinely replied. Ahsoka gave a sigh of relief and quickly entered her private refresher. She'd finish stripping in here, where she wouldn't be at risk of giving Wraith an eyeful of her body.

As soon as she closed the door, Wraith saw no more of her.


Later...

There truly was no greater feeling than the refreshing warm stream of water that gushed from a hydroshower nozzle.

Standing underneath, Ahsoka closed her eyes and hummed in silent pleasure as she enjoyed the steady stream and relaxed, taking a moment for herself and actually basking in the warmth. Having spent most of her time in here removing paint from her body, Ahsoka was now paint-free and just wanted a moment to refresh herself. Moments like this came few and far between, especially when she was stuck on a cruiser almost entirely made up of men. There were very few opportunities for Ahsoka to engage in some womanly things, to be a girl for a little while. This was one of those moments, but she'd prefer it if there was a hot tub and maybe some fragrances available.

But beggars can't be choosers. And Ahsoka was not complaining about the hot water.

Unfortunately, she couldn't stay here forever. She had to get going now that she was clean. Anakin said he needed her for something, probably to chew her out again for simply associating with Wraith. Although she wanted very much to avoid that, Ahsoka knew how bad it would look if she was late. Shutting off the water, the Togruta reached behind the curtain and grabbed a towel from the nearby rack, using it to dry off. She dried her body, planning on using another one to dry her montrals later. Wrapping it around herself, Ahsoka stepped out of the shower...

And ran right into a shirtless Wraith.

"GYAH!" She cried in surprise as she realized the connection was open again, nearly dropping the towel in the process. Thank the Force she had been holding on to it! Wraith jumped back in shock as Ahsoka's cry took him by surprise.

"Spawnuva-!" His swear was cut short as he suddenly registered what was going on and sighed deeply. "Don't scare me like that!" He exclaimed, though his breathy chuckle indicated less annoyance and more light-hearted fun.

"Scare you?! You scared me!" She replied, slowly starting to laugh herself.

"Well... sorry!" Wraith quickly answered. "I didn't mean to."

"I know. And I didn't mean to... scare you... either..." Ahsoka slowed as she suddenly realized that, right now, she could see a bare-chested Wraith up close.

His towel was wrapped only around his waist, giving her a good view of his six-pack abs, thick pectorals and sculpted arms. His body was so powerfully built and rugged. Wicked, jagged scars crisscrossed his body, testament to the many battles he'd fought and the torturous pain he'd suffered. She could see singular lines etched into his flesh, leftovers from some impalement or slash he'd recovered from. She saw the defined, sloping V of his hips, biting her lip and blushing as she naughtily wondered what it pointed to. She spied small, circular wounds, telltale remnants of the slugs the Titans had hit him with. Ahsoka grew enamoured with his looks, realizing that each scar served only to improve his handsome features. She looked at him as a whole, recognizing his entire body as being colossal and perfectly sculpted.

No wonder he could do the things he did, he was built like a kriffing tank!

"See something you like?" He asked with a subtle smirk. Ahsoka was suddenly out of her haze and realized she'd been staring at him, something that served to deepen her blush.

"I-I mean..." she started to stutter in defence, looking away, but quickly realized she was then on the losing end of the argument, trying to hide the obvious, "...yeah..." she quietly admitted.

"It's okay, Ahsoka. You're a young and developing woman, it's only natural for you to get... curious." Wraith assured her.

"I... s-sure." She weakly replied, torn between upholding her Jedi teachings and taking another look at him it really wasn't very nice of her to take advantage of his indecency.

Suddenly remembering her own indecency, and how she was clad in only a towel, Ahsoka blushed furiously.

"Turn away, would you!" She cried, quickly turning her body.

"Sorry!" Wraith apologized as he promptly did so. "Wait, what am I apologizing for?"

"I-It's just... It's just that I'm half-naked... and alone... with a guy... who's also half-naked." Ahsoka admitted, realizing the absolute insanity of this situation.

"So you're nervous and embarrassed. That's okay. I get it. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'm going to go check on my armor and leave you be, okay?"

"O-Okay..." Ahsoka replied, "talk to you soon?"

"Hopefully. Until next time, my love." Wraith bid her farewell and made to leave his refresher, disappearing through a door and vanishing from view. Ahsoka soon found herself alone once more and breathed a sigh as she clutched her towel tightly.

"I can't believe I just ogled and chatted half-naked with the guy I'm fifty-percent certain I have a crush on." She said aloud, shaking her head in dismay.

What a day this had turned out to be...