Author's Note: Something that's a bit of an AU to the Ahsoka/Gregor fic I wrote that will be up shortly. Enjoy!
Tradition
Ahsoka shivered as Gregor's hands slid along her arms, frozen at the touch. There were callouses on his fingertips, not unlike those of the men under her command, but this felt... different.
Before when her men had touched her, it was with business-like purpose. All in the line of duty; to catch her and stop her from falling or, more commonly, to pull her up from a sprawl. Rex's touch was familiar in its solidarity, but brief. Kix was thorough, but purely business, when he checked her for injuries. Neither lingered the way Gregor's touch now did.
Here, in the dark, her stomach clenched and her heart began to pound in a way she'd not felt before. This felt… personal.
Intimate.
Forbidden.
"Gregor?" His hands stilled. "What are you doing?"
"I want to see you."
"Your eyes-"
"Not like that."
Not like what? He couldn't see her; even if she pulled off the cloth on his eyes, he wouldn't have been able to see anyway. The lights were off, the room in near pitch darkness. How else could he… It took her a moment to follow his line of thought and when she spoke it was hesitantly. Mostly because she wasn't certain she was right. "Through… touch?"
"How else could I see you?"
"I… ah…" Ahsoka coughed and tried to lighten the mood; the tension between them had been an unexpected byproduct of his unexpected exploration. "No offense, soldier, but if my boys could see you right now, not being able to see would be the least of your worries."
"Your boys?"
"The five hundred and first's Torrent Company." Her grin was unconscious as she tried to explain what another clone should already have known, hesitating. "They can be a little…"
"Over protective?"
"Sure," that was as good a description as any, "we'll go with that. Don't get me wrong, they know I can take care of myself, but…"
"… would prefer to be involved."
Ahsoka stared at face for a moment, able to see him clearly in the semi darkness and nodded absently. Belatedly she realized that the cloth covering his eyes wouldn't have been the only issue with him seeing her. "Right." Shifting on his chest, she made to leave but his fingers flexed on her shoulders. "Gregor - I need to get up."
"I want to see you, Ahsoka."
"Gregor-"
"Please."
Capitulating like a stack of haphazardly stacked flimsy, Ahsoka sighed. She might not have been in his position but she could well imagine how it must feel to be an active, healthy individual only to be deprived of a primary sense. Especially sight, or in her case for comparison, her echo location. "Can I at least sit up while you do it? This isn't exactly…"
"Professional?"
"Comfortable." Her correction was wry and she tapped the center of his chest, unable to help herself as she traced the underside of one defined pectoral. "You're built to be a lean, mean, killing machine; not a pillow."
He seemed to consider it and then, chuckled, his grip easing a fraction. "You're easily accessible this way."
Now he sounded like Fives. At least, like Fives sounded when he was chatting up one of the few females that weren't actually a part of the GAR. Her sigh slipped out unconsciously as she shook her head. Gregor hadn't felt like a flirt when she'd first talked to him; had she been wrong?
"If you'd rather I don't, Ahsoka-"
"No; it's okay." That alone told her she'd been right. Adjusting her position, she was grateful to feel his hold ease. "Just let me up for a minute, okay?"
Gregor did as she asked.
Pushing free before she could consider the wisdom of what she was about to do, Ahsoka crossed the room to the main door. Programming in the security code, one of the bonuses to having the main cabin, she activated the lock. A beep and then a soft blip of a noise sounded, indicating the lock had engaged and Ahsoka stood there for a moment, debating what she was about to do.
For all she empathized with Gregor's predicament, she was about to let him touch her in a way that no one had. Not exactly personal, but he'd have to trace her face. Was she really comfortable with that? Glancing back at him, she considered his prone and rather pathetic form and smiled faintly. The guy was as weak as a newborn baby. What could he do anyway?
"There; now the younglings can't disturb us."
"Younglings?"
"I'm playing chaperone for a handful of Jedi who are building their lightsabers."
"If I'm keeping you from something-"
"Five minutes while you figure out what I look like won't hurt, Gregor."
"How did you and the younglings end up here?"
"Our ship was attacked," drawing close to the bed once again, she tried to explain without going into too much detail; there would be time for that later. "We escaped but had to land to make emergency repairs. We arrived just in time to see a shuttle taking off and you being thrown around, and then out, by that explosion."
"What are the odds a Jedi would find me, huh?"
"Must be the will of the Force, or so the Masters like to say." Settling next to him, she considered his position and took a deep breath. Now or never. He wouldn't hurt her; Clones were programmed to protect Jedi, not hurt them. Besides, no brother liked to piss off their medic. "Lift your hands and hold them in front of your chest."
He did as she instructed and, after a moment to take a breath, Ahsoka cupped the backs, lifting them, before settling them against her face. It was odd to feel the heat of his touch; Clones were always so much warmer than she was. It had come in handy on occasion when they'd been on planets where the weather made her blood freeze in her veins.
"Be careful," she cautioned wryly as his fingers slipped towards her chin, "if you get too close to my lips, I might bite."
"Caution noted," he acknowledged.
Ahsoka held still as his fingers started to move, closing her eyes as they did. His callused fingertips ghosted over her skin, touching the distinctive patterns across her eyebrows, cheek bones and cheeks. His fingers were gentle but thorough. Ahsoka could feel the restrain within his touch and then the confusion as he moved his hands upwards, across the ridges where her eyebrows should have been. They hesitated, tracing the lines of her brows for a moment and then retracing them as if to be sure of what he felt.
His hands stopped as he encountered a lip where her montral edge met her forehead and her eyes opened. Looking at him, she watched as he frowned. His hands continued to move slowly, memorizing the lines of her face, the edges of it, tracing a mark on her skull where she knew his ears to be - and where she had none.
He thought I was human.
A surprise for him, no doubt. Her lips tilted as she bent into his touch, easing the length of his reach and able to feel his breath on her skin. His fingertips slid along the faint crease about halfway up her face, following it around before his palms flattened against her head and making her shiver. They started to slide downwards, his fingers curling around her skull and downwards, closing firmly about her-
Enough was enough; touching was one thing, but this was too far. Her hands closed firmly about his wrists. "Don't get me wrong, Gregor, I'm starting to think you're swell, but we're not close enough for that."
"Twi'lek?"
"Togruta; the headgear is different but just as sensitive."
She watched his expression as he seemed to take in that bit of information, still close enough that she was nearly nose to nose with him, the upper half of his face obscured by the cloth soaking his skin with nutrients and healing fluids.
His brow furrowed around the cloth strip and Ahsoka felt her heart go out to him. Poor guy had been alone for who knew how long on Abafar, cut off from the GAR and, from what she'd been able to determine while at his bed side, devoid of all his memories. If that was a side effect from being rattled around in his armor or something more, she didn't yet know. Releasing one of his wrists, she smoothed her finger tips across his brow, soothing the ridges and worry lines. "It's not so bad."
"Says the women without the cloth over her eyes."
"It can be removed tomorrow, Gregor; just give the medical gunk a chance to work, okay?"
"Medical gunk?" His skepticism made her grin. "No offense, Commander, but that's not reassuring."
"You have your hands on my lekku, Gregor," she couldn't help but see some amusement in the situation despite the intimacy, "I think you can call me Ahsoka."
"Sorry - Ahsoka." He slid his hands upwards, back to her face, drawing her a fraction closer as his thumbs traced the curve of her jaw. "You know, there's a tradition on Abafar about apologies; one I was cautioned never to forget or forgo."
"Oh?"
He nodded, his expression solemn from what she could see for all his eyes were covered. "An apology to a beautiful woman is always accompanied with a kiss."
"It- what?"
"It's accompanied," he reiterated, his fingers flexing, drawing her fractionally closer, "with a kiss."
Her tongue hit the roof of her mouth and stuck as she stared at him, taken aback. Her silence seemed to spur him on. Ahsoka's breath left her as Gregor's lips were suddenly, in a whisper of a caress, on hers. Her eyes closed of their own accord as he gently, skillfully, kissed her with a deliberation matched only by the intensity of that almost-not meeting of mouths.
Slowly, as if he were afraid to scare her, he drew back, his head falling to the pillow as she lifted free of his grip, her eyes opening. Staring at him, her hand lifted to her moist lips and traced them wonderingly. That... was nothing like when Lux had kissed her on Carlac.
Nothing at all.
It hadn't been the firm, nearly frantic slightly open mouthed desperation of a teenager trying to shut her up. This had been something else. Something… unexpected. Something a little magical; what her first kiss, something told her, should have originally been like. Her tongue darted out to taste the moisture on her lips just as Gregor spoke.
"You taste like spiced wine."
Never had Ahsoka been greater for the darkness and the fact he was blinded than in that moment. She flushed, feeling the blood surge into her cheeks and lekku, the colors no doubt vivid even in the near black.
"It's a compliment, Ahsoka," Gregor told her with a smile, tracing the curve of her burning cheek bones. "Nothing to be embarrassed about."
The rush of fire through her veins was acute embarrassment mixed with excitement and overshadowed by confusion. She didn't even know Gregor beyond the fact he was a Clone and she'd enjoyed kissing him far more than she'd enjoyed kissing Lux, whom she knew and had something of a crush on. She pushed passed it with surprising difficulty, her determination lending her a much needed conviction; it wasn't her first kiss after all. "A kiss as an apology, is it?"
"Do you need another one?"
He sounded so eager that she laughed, the sound springing forth unexpectedly. "What? No! Force no."
"That bad, huh?"
"No," she chuckled and extricated herself reluctantly from his grip. "This just… I didn't plan this when I locked the door, Gregor. I should probably go. You need to rest."
It was a dodge that made even her wince. Obvious, but she needed some space and it was the only way she knew how to get it. Strategically retreating? She grimaced. Even she wouldn't have bought it. She was running away and it couldn't be disguised as anything else. If she needed proof of it, she'd have found it in Gregor's next words.
"Promise to come back when you're done regrouping?"
"I promise." Reaching out, she slid her fingers into his hand, squeezing. "Thanks, Gregor."
"For making you uncomfortable?"
"For the gift." She pushed to her feet, reluctantly pulling her hand free from his, though he clung to her, as if loathe to let her go. There was something endearing about it. "I may have been kissed before, but nothing like that."
"I aim to please," his drawled comment was accompanied by a smug and deliberate folding of his hands behind his head, "if there's anything else you'd like to experience…"
Ahsoka grinned and laughed, no doubt his intention. "I'll let you know, soldier. I need to get back to work on the ship if we're going to have any hope of ever leaving. Get some rest."
Without waiting for his next quirk or crack, she escaped, undoing the lock and stepping out of the room in record time. As the door closed and she leaned against it, the sound from behind the portal made her pause. Tilting her head, she held her breath… and smiled.
Whistling.
Gregor was whistling.
How about that; maybe that kiss hadn't been so bad for him either. A grin on her lips, Ahsoka pushed off the door and headed back to the mishmash of debris that was the engine she needed to fix. Once that was done, they could see about getting off that rock... but not before she'd gotten to know the Clone currently stuck in her room a little better.
fin
