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They’re on a mission together, the 327th and 501st. Which means that Bly is seeing Rex again, for the first time since his ARC training, which is already months in the past. Months, in which Torrent was thrown at every problem in the galaxy.
Bly has seen their roster and he’s seen their mission assignments - he gets them in wordless messages from Cody every time Torrent is thrown headfirst into a new unwinnable battle. Battles from which Torrent emerges victorious every time. There’s pride growing in him with every report he reads.
The joint mission goes well enough that Bly is slightly confused why they needed two battalions. They end up sitting in their base camp on evening four, only still on the planet because Aayla and Skywalker need to make visits to village elders in the morning.
Everyone is in small groups, enjoying the rare down time with actual fresh air - none of that Coruscanti air that’s at least 60% engine fuel. They leave Bly and Rex alone, although there are curious glances thrown their way every so often. None of them are intrusive, lingering too long, but with two battalions it still feels like they’re being watched the entire time.
“How have you been?”, Bly asks.
Rex sends him a look that’s purely judgemental: “Really, that’s what you’re going with as a conversation starter?”
“It’s not like you’re keeping me up to date. Maybe I just want some first hand information for once.”
“Cody?”
Bly nods. “You’ve been busy”, he says and he can’t quite keep his voice or face as neutral as he was planning to. “Lots of missions for your first few months.”
Rex tenses and stares straight ahead: “I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Did you really think we wouldn’t know?” Bly bumps Rex’s shoulder with his own. “Cody’s your Marshal Commander”, he reminds him. “And I think I earned the right to be worried about you the third time you bit me.”
The joke is lost on the situation, Rex being too tense to laugh about old times. Instead, they’re both quiet for a while, watching their battalions mingling.
Then, Rex says: “We’re not gonna do it.”
Bly humms a question.
“We’re not gonna burn out. Not fast and not slow, either. We’ve been training.” He pauses and his face goes full Rex’ika as he looks at Bly - feral and confident and daring him to disagree: “And we’re getting good. Really good.”
Bly smiles at Rex. “I noticed”, he says, because he did . Torrent knows what they’re doing. They move in sync, they fight smart, they’re vicious and when he has something to say, they look at Rex before he even starts talking.
The tension eases out of Rex. He bumps against Bly’s shoulder, lingering just a little too long at the point where they’re just touching. Bly lifts up his arm and Rex shifts so he’s sitting underneath it. Bly scratches his head. It’s a bit uncomfortable, used to be easier when Rex was still a couple of growth cycles behind them.
“How was ARC training?”, he asks after a moment.
Rex’s face does something completely undefinable. Bly only sees it because he’s looking in the right moment.
“Fine”, Rex says, his voice carefully controlled. He’s definitely blushing.
Bly snorts: “I’m going to ignore whatever that was.” It’s very cute, Bly decides. Rex’s very first crush - at least he thinks it’s the first. Ponds would lose his shit, which is exactly why Bly will not be looking at the graduation list. Sometimes, it’s a good guideline for decision making to think ‘what would Ponds do’ and do the exact opposite.
“Thanks”, Rex mumbles, almost not discernible.
Bly squeezes Rex into his side for a moment. He’s happy, he notes. Happy to be here with Rex. With nothing to do, just this once. Rex moves so his head is resting on Bly’s shoulder. Their battalions have taken to ignoring them completely, not wanting to intrude on a moment that is clearly private despite the fact that it’s happening in the middle of their base camp.
It stays at just a moment because Skywalker shouts: “Hey, Rex! Watch this!” and does something that is both difficult to describe and definitely stupid. It involves droid poppers and acrobatics and makes Aayla drop her head into her hands in exasperated laughter.
Rex laughs, too, and gives Skywalker a thumbs up. There’s something about his reaction that strikes Bly as terrifyingly Ponds.
“Rex”, he says and nothing more.
When Rex doesn’t react, Bly pushes him away from his shoulder, just far enough so he can see Rex’s face.
There’s a faux-innocent smile looking at him and Bly knows that smile. It’s the one Ponds makes right before he says: ‘Can we keep it?’ Except this is Rex, so he’s definitely not going to ask for permission.
Bly sighs: “Did it have to be Skywalker?”
Because Bly’s heard stories about Skywalker and he’s read Rex’s reports. He’s also read Cody’s recommendation that Skywalker be assigned to Torrent because ‘he believes Skywalker and the company commander would make an effective team’. Which is Cody-speak for: ‘They’re both batshit crazy and if we assign either of them anyone normal, we’ll have a murder on our hands.’
Rex doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed.
“Knew it was a mistake, keeping you and Ponds in the same room for so long.”
Rex throws him a look. This one, he’s copied from Cody. It tells you, simultaneously, how much bullshit he’s calling - a lot - and how much he’ll believe the next words that come out of your mouth - not at all.
“I had no part in your adoption”, Bly says.
The look on Rex’s face stays the same.
“Any of my actions that made it seem like I was on board, were simply owed to the fact that I knew it was a lost cause.”
“Sure, Bly.”
Bly huffs in completely sincere indignation: “You’re a menace, Rex.”
“Love you, too.”