Archive of Our Own

Kallus glared at the caf maker impatiently, trying to will it to go faster. He needed to get back to his station and finish his report, but he'd barely slept last night. Or the night before that. Or the entire week since the Ghost had picked him up, really.

He doubted he was alone in that. The battle over Atollon and the evacuation of the rebel base- Chopper Base as it'd apparently been called, which Kallus found both amusing and a little disconcerting given his experiences with the ill-tempered astromech- had thrown the rebellion into chaos and set everyone on edge. A significant number of ships, including Commander Sato's, had been destroyed in the escape, and many lives lost. The Phoenix Squadron had lost their home and one of their leaders; everyone was working overtime to try and keep things from falling apart.

It was even bad enough that Kallus had been drafted to work on encrypting and decoding various transmissions within an hour of the Ghost docking on the one remaining transport ship. Zeb had tried to get him to go to the infirmary but Kallus had refused. It would've been a pointless gesture. He was needed elsewhere, and his injuries hadn't been bad enough to require immediate attention; there were plenty of other people who were more injured than he'd been and needed the medical attention more. No reason to waste already limited supplies. The remnants of command left onboard hadn't been thrilled to have Kallus' assistance, but had accepted his offer to help nonetheless. There’d been lots that needed to be done and not enough hands to go around, and Kallus had the skills and experience they’d needed.

The caf machine finally beeped and Kallus filled his cup, taking a sip as he walked off despite knowing full well it was still too hot to drink. He could handle a burnt tongue if it meant even just a little caffeine. His time in the military had taught him to work on little to no sleep, but he could only go so long without a little help. He'd been going through what felt like terabytes of intercepted transmissions since early that morning, trying to synthesize them into a coherent report, so any amount of caffeine was appreciated. It was a horrible assignment, the sort of thing he would've felt bad giving to even a beginning analyst back in the ISB, and he had little doubt it had been assigned to him on purpose. It needed to be done and didn't require access to particularly sensitive information, so it was the perfect assignment for someone that command didn't trust. For someone like him. Kallus was honestly surprised they were allowing him to help at all. Immediately after the battle they'd needed all hands to help mitigate the emergency, but the urgency had died down somewhat since then. He knew the rebels didn’t trust him; the whispers and glares as he’d walked the corridors of the transport ship hadn’t been subtle and they’d just gotten worse since they’d landed on Yavin IV, not that he blamed them. Being Fulcrum couldn’t erase his past or the things he’d done.

He sat back down at his station with a slight wince. His black eye had healed enough that it looked worse than it felt, but his ribs were still tender. He could feel a dull ache building up in his leg too; it had never fully healed after Bahryn and while it was usually fine, Thrawn's kick during their fight had left it stiff and sore. One of the several analysts working in the area glanced up at him suspiciously as he sat down and Kallus quickly busied himself with his report; it was best not to make eye contact, he found. Made him seem like less of a threat.

A pressure against his leg brought him back to awareness some time later. He wasn't sure how long he'd been working, but his cup of caf was long finished and he was the only one still in the area when the feeling caught his attention. He looked down to find a loth-cat rubbing against his leg and looking up at him with dark eyes. It was still a relatively young one by the looks of it, probably just barely older than a kit.

Kallus frowned, shooing the creature away gently. "Go bother someone else. I'm not going to pet you." He didn't dislike loth-cats per se but he was rather allergic to them, and that definitely wasn't something he needed to be dealing with right now on top of everything else. Besides, the base was plenty large and full of people. He had no doubt the creature would find someone perfectly willing to pet it without much trouble. Just as long as it wasn't him.

XXX

"I suppose this is adequate."

Kallus bristled slightly. He'd spent years writing reports; this was a damn good one and he knew it. He tried not to let Draven see his annoyance though, simply giving him a curt nod. "I'm glad it meets your expectations."

Draven raised an eyebrow. "I never said it met them. Only that it was adequate."

"Of course." Kallus gritted his teeth. He knew Draven was intentionally trying to get a rise out of him, and he refused to give him the satisfaction. "I will…endeavour to do better with my next one."

"As you should." Draven turned back to his datapad. "You're dismissed, agent."

Kallus nodded and walked out of the command center, glad to be done with the meeting. Zeb caught up with him quickly. "Ya know he's just trying to give you a hard time, right? Your report was spot on."

Kallus sighed. "Yes, Zeb, I'm aware." He glanced over at Zeb. "Surprised you read it."

Zeb shrugged. "The Ghost's one of the ships going on the supply run, so I figured it'd be good to read the security report." He laughed slightly. "You're certainly thorough."

"Well it wouldn't be a very good report if it wasn't." Kallus allowed himself a small smile, the compliment feeling nice. He knew it was a good report, and he knew Draven knew it was a good report, but it was still nice to hear someone else acknowledge it.

"How're your ribs doing?"

He shrugged. "Fine."

Zeb gave him a skeptical look. "Really? Cause if your black eye's anything to go by you don't look like you're healing much."

"It's only been two weeks, Zeb. Us humans heal slower than you do. I'm healing just fine." And for the most part he was. His leg was still stiff, especially when he woke up or had been sitting for a while- he was starting to wonder if the fight had caused permanent damage- but his ribs were mostly healed and his black eye had faded significantly. It was barely even tender anymore, more discoloured than an actual black eye by this point. "I appreciate your concern though."

"They'd have healed quicker if you'd actually properly gone to the infirmary, ya know."

"There was no reason for me to use supplies when I didn't need them. There were plenty of other people who needed bacta more than I did."

"We have plenty of med supplies, Kallus. You'd've been fine asking for some bacta." Zeb hadn't been a fan of Kallus' reasoning back when they'd arrived on Yavin, and he still didn't seem to be a fan now. He dropped the subject with a sigh, though. "I promised Hera I'd help her with some repairs, but try not to work yourself to death, yeah? You look like you could use a break."

"Unfortunately there's a lot to be done and not enough people to do it, so breaks are a bit of a luxury right now." He gave Zeb another small smile, cutting off the objection he could already see coming. "I'll keep that in mind though. And again, I appreciate the concern."

Kallus scrolled through his datapad as he made his way back to his station, looking through the data he needed to analyze now. Nothing too bad. He could probably get this report hammered out in a few days, maybe even by tomorrow if he worked late tonight, which he probably would. Not like there was much else for him to do.

"Mrrr?"

He looked up, the small sound startling him slightly. It took him a moment to find the source, but after a few seconds he caught sight of a pair of large eyes watching him from on top of a crate. The loth-cat from the other day. It stretched, moving out of the shadows and into the dim light with a curious expression, chirping inquisitively. Kallus kept walking, sighing when he heard the patter of pawsteps behind him. The loth-cat rubbed up against his leg with another chirp, and Kallus stepped away carefully. “I’m still not petting you. I'm sure there are plenty of people willing to do that, but I'm not one of them." He started walking again, quicker this time, relieved when the creature didn't follow him.

XXX

A decade and a half as a field agent naturally lent itself to the development of some particular habits. Some of them made intuitive sense. Visually clearing unfamiliar rooms. Always knowing where exits were. Carrying a weapon whenever possible. Others were a little less so. Carrying things in his left hand in case he needed to salute with his right. Eating quickly. Being early to everything. One that tended to surprise most people though was how light of a sleeper Kallus was. Years of combat training and experience had ingrained in him the importance of being able to wake at the slightest hint of danger. It was an excellent habit to have, and had saved his life- and the lives of his men- on multiple occasions.

It was not, however, a good thing when bunking with a snorer.

The rumbling on the other side of the small room was loud enough that it could've been mistaken for an engine. Kallus focused on his breathing, trying to will himself to ignore the noise. If he laid still long enough, if he ignored the noise strongly enough, he’d fall back asleep. The fact that he'd been trying to do that for two hours to no avail didn't mean anything. It'd be fine. It'd work. Eventually.

It took another 30 minutes before he finally gave up. He sat up with a sigh and slipped out of the room quietly, not wanting to wake his roommate. He grabbed his jacket on the way out, pulling it on as he set off down the hall towards the mess area, walking slowly to work the stiffness out of his leg. The base got surprisingly cool at night, the sort of damp cool that came with tropical humidity and was far more chilling than it should've been. It was just barely after three in the morning, hours left until sunrise and the accompanying rise in temperature; a cup of caf would certainly help keep him warm and by midmorning it'd be annoyingly hot and humid, but a jacket was still a good idea for the time being.

A loud yowl startled him as he rounded a corner and his hand dropped automatically to where he would've normally carried a blaster as he looked around, his entire body tense and alert. The hallway was empty save for a few crates. There was no one there who could've made that noise. Kallus supposed it could've maybe been an alarm of some sort but it had sounded too much like something a living creature would…

"MROWWWW."

Now that he was fully paying attention it was easy to find the source of the second yowl. The loth-cat was dark enough that it had blended into the shadows during his first cursory glance around. Now, though, Kallus could make out its form on top of one of the crates. He sighed, shoulders relaxing slightly, and started walking again. He was certainly well and awake now, but a cup of caf would still be nice.

The loth-cat cried again as he set off, and Kallus frowned. It didn't quite sound angry, but it definitely didn't sound happy. He turned to look at it and took a small step towards the crate, curious despite his desire to maintain his distance. "You're all up in arms this morning." It tried to jump down but something seemed to catch it, and Kallus moved closer, trying to see what had stopped it. It was stuck on something, it’s paw tangled in one of the cords wrapped around the crate. It looked up at him and mewled pitifully, seeming to decide that yelling was no longer necessary. Kallus looked around, hoping to see someone else that could help- preferably someone who wasn't allergic- but he was alone. After a moment he sighed, reaching over and carefully untangling the loth-cat's paw. "You're lucky I'm up so early, else you'd be stuck here for hours."

The cat leapt off the crate, skittering down the hallway as soon it was free, and Kallus couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Dock animals weren't a common occurrence on Imperial bases, but they'd popped up every once in a while. There tended to be a strange culture around them, workers quickly becoming protective of them and treating them as though they were actual workers as well. He'd always found it a little confusing honestly, but he'd also never been much of an animal person. He supposed he could see the appeal to some extent, but allergies had always kept him at arm's length. Still, even he had to admit the sight of the loth-cat's puffed up tail as it skidded around the corner was a bit sweet. Certainly amusing at the very least.

The mess area wasn't completely empty- main areas of the base rarely were, no matter how late it was- but there were only a handful of people, mostly analysts and mechanics looking to get a last bit of caffeine to tide them over until the end of the night shift. Kallus kept his head down, careful not to make eye contact with the few people present as he made his way over to the caf maker. He could feel several sets of eyes on him; three in the morning was an odd time to be awake in general, and it was a suspicious time for someone like him to be awake. It would be best to simply make his caf and head to the intelligence area as quickly as possible. No need to linger.

It wasn't until he went to pull the chair back from his station that he noticed the two large, dark eyes staring up at him. He frowned and let out a small sigh. "No. Get off of there." He shooed the cat off the chair and gently nudged it away from the console with his foot. "Just because I helped you earlier doesn't mean I'm going to pet you now." He glanced around the area, which thankfully was completely empty at the moment, before nudging the cat again. "Go on. I don't want you near me."

The loth-cat sprinted off as soon as his foot brushed against it, hightailing its way across the room and around the corner into the hall. Kallus sighed again and brushed off any fur that might be left on the chair seat. He was already awake far earlier than he wanted to be, he didn't need to deal with allergies all day as well.

XXX

"Do I even want to know how many cups you've already had?"

Kallus rolled his eyes as he poured caf into his cup. "This is only my third cup, Zeb. Which is a perfectly normal number."

"Yeah, except you'll follow it up with a fourth and then a fifth, and then you'll never get to sleep." Zeb leaned against the counter, eyebrows raised. "I know you're trying to make a good impression and all, but you do still need to sleep. Pretty sure that's a thing you humans can't go without."

"I know my limits, thank you very much."

"Great, now you just need to learn to follow them."

Kallus rolled his eyes again. "I think I'm doing just fine." He took a sip of caf, ignoring the fact that it was still far too hot to comfortably drink. "I heard the supply run went well."

"Smoothest mission we've had in a while. I suppose we've got to have a few clean runs every now and again." Zeb grinned and nudged Kallus slightly. "Your report definitely helped things though."

"I'm glad."

Zeb kept pace with him as he set off towards the data terminal area. "Draven still giving you a hard time?"

Kallus shrugged. "He has high standards. I just do my best to meet them."

"Sounds like a polite way of saying you two are still butting heads."

"Butting heads is a bit strong." Kallus paused, thinking. "We…have our differences of opinion."

Zeb barked out a laugh. "That's definitely just a polite way of saying it."

Kallus chuckled. "You learn to be polite when- krif!" Kallus rushed over to his chair as soon as he caught sight of the furry tail swishing over the side and pulled his jacket out from under the loth-cat, which had curled up on top of it while he'd been up. The cat glared up at him and made an offended noise at the disturbance, but Kallus ignored it.

"Come on," Zeb laughed, "it looked like it was comfy!"

"Well, it can go be comfy somewhere that isn't on top of my jacket." Kallus looked over his jacket, sighing at how much fur already seemed to be stuck to it. He'd barely been gone five minutes; how an animal so small managed to shed so much in such a short period of time was beyond him.

"Wouldn't have pegged you as the animal hater type." Zeb watched him with amusement. "What's so bad about loth-cats?"

"Their fur. I don't know about you, but I don't generally tend to enjoy spending all day sneezing and with watery eyes." Kallus pushed the cat off the chair as gently as could, earning another offended squeak, and did his best to brush most of the fur off the fabric without accidentally getting it on himself. A few of the other analysts in the area had looked over curiously at the slight commotion, but he didn't pay them much mind. "This particular one seems to have it in for me. It hasn't left me alone since I got here."

Zeb laughed again. "It's a loth-cat, Kallus, I don't think it's trying to be malicious. Think it probably just wants a comfy place to sleep."

"And like I said, there are plenty of places it can do that that aren't around me." Kallus hung his jacket back up on the back of the chair and sat down. He was pretty sure he'd managed to get most of the fur off, but he had no doubt his allergies would start acting up regardless before too long. He pulled the report he was working on back up; might as well try to get as much done as possible before his symptoms kicked in. "There's no reason for it to continue bothering someone who isn't going to pet it."

"Eh, I'm sure you'll be fine." Zeb clapped Kallus on the shoulder lightly as he headed off. "Just try not to over-caffeinate yourself too badly today, yeah?"

Kallus rolled his eyes again, but he couldn't quite keep the slight smile off his face. Zeb's concern was unnecessary, but he appreciated it nonetheless. "I'll do my best."

XXX

"No."

The loth-cat tilted its head curiously at Kallus' voice, but made no move to get down. He'd made the mistake of leaving his PADD at his workstation while he made caf, thinking nothing of it until he'd come back to find the blasted creature sitting right on top of it. He knew it wouldn't take anything more than a slight nudge to get it to jump down but he'd spent the entire afternoon the other day sneezing and wiping at his eyes, so the prospect of getting within more than a few feet of the animal wasn't particularly pleasant.

"Get down." Kallus briefly thought that the animal might actually listen to him as it considered him curiously, but after a moment it simply flopped down onto his datapad more fully. "What, no that's not…I'm not petting you. It's not happening." He sighed as the cat rolled onto it's back, exposing it's stomach and staring up at him with dark eyes and an expectant chirp. "Please get down?"

His plea was met with silence and not even a hint of movement and he sighed again; what exactly had he been expecting? It was a loth-cat not a person, it wasn't like he could reason with it. Thankfully it was between shifts and the area was empty, so at least no one had been there to witness it. The cat perked it's head up as Kallus stepped forward, batting at his hand playfully as he reached over to move it off his station. "No, I'm not playing with you either. Get down." He slid the animal off his PADD and to the edge of the console, giving it one last nudge to get it to jump down. It landed with a small chirp of surprise, brushing up against his leg a moment later. He pushed it away with his foot, rolling his eyes. "No."

The cat finally seemed to get the message, letting out one last plaintive meow before wandering away slowly. Kallus turned his attention back to his station and began brushing the stray fur off the console. It was a mystery to him how such a small animal managed to shed so much so quickly, but even the few minutes it'd taken him to make caf had been enough for his station to end up coated in a thin layer of fur. It was also a mystery to him how it managed to figure out which station was his. He supposed it could've watched the area enough to have seen him sitting there, but why it would choose to bother him when he'd made it clear he wasn't going to pet it was beyond him.

He brushed off any stray hairs that had managed to land on his clothes and sat down. Even with having cleared off the area he knew his allergies were going to start acting up again. His eyes were already starting to feel itchy, though that was probably more psychosomatic than anything else. It'd undoubtedly be a bad afternoon though, maybe even worse than the other day. He grimaced slightly as he opened up the report he was finishing up. Wonderful way to start the day.

By the time he was actually briefing command on the report, his symptoms were in full swing. He'd managed to avoid having to wipe at his eyes so far during the meeting, but he wasn't sure how long his luck on that would last and he'd still spent it sniffling, earning him a few curious looks. "The markings on the door indicate that the building is used by the Kanj-"

A sneeze cut him off mid sentence and Draven raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright, agent? You seem a bit…under the weather."

"I'm fine, sir. Just allergies." Kallus sniffed again, doing his best to ignore the look of poorly hidden bemusement on Draven's face as he continued the briefing. "The markings on the door indicate that the building is used by the Kanjiklub, which means that any attempts to use it may put operatives at risk for Hutt retaliation."

The amusement on Zeb's face when he walked over after the briefing had finished was somehow both more and less annoying than Draven's. "Ya know there's meds for this kind of stuff, right?"

"I don't need medication, I need that kriffing furball to leave me alone," Kallus grumbled.

"Considering how that's been working out for you, I'd maybe think about meds all the same," Zeb laughed. "It seems to be getting pretty attached to you, so I don't know you'll be getting rid of it any time soon."

"That's what I don't get!" Kallus turned to Zeb with an exasperated look. "This base is full of people, many of whom would probably be perfectly willing to spend a few minutes petting a loth-cat. Why does it insist on finding me instead?"

Zeb shrugged, grinning. "Maybe you're just a likeable guy."

"I'm a lot of things, Zeb, but likeable isn't one of them."

"Ah you're better than ya give yourself credit for. I like you just fine." Zeb paused, thinking. "Though, on second thought, Lasat are a feline species, so…"

"Piss off." Kallus tried to hide his grin, but if Zeb's laughter was anything to go by, he did a bad job of it. "At least I'm not allergic to you."

XXX

The base had a strangely relaxed air about it post-dinner. It was still busy, of course, and there were still plenty of people working, but the brief period of time where the day shift was finishing up and the night shift was just gearing up to get started always seemed to be filled with a relaxed excitement and comradery that Kallus had never felt at any of the Imperial bases he'd served on. There was a sense of community here; these weren't just colleagues and coworkers, they were friends.

Kallus moved to the side of the hall as a group of pilots passed by him, laughing at something. A few of them threw glances his way but most were too preoccupied with whatever had been said to pay him any mind, which was perfectly fine with him. He made his way quickly through the halls and out through the main hangar to the external docking area. It wasn't a particularly long walk, but it was just long enough that the heat from the pouch of food started to get painful. He made his way over to a section of wall that seemed relatively out of the way and set the packet down on a crate before lowering himself down to the ground gingerly. His leg had been uncomfortably stiff all day and the movement sent a slight stab of pain through it; most days it seemed to be fine, but whatever Thrawn's kick had done didn't seem like it was fully healing any time soon, if ever.

It was quieter out here away from the main dining area. He'd never been a big fan of the noise and crowd of the mess hall even when he'd been with the Empire and it felt even more uncomfortable here. The dinner crowd meant that there were few places to sit away from other people and he knew well enough that he wasn't welcome at tables with others. It wasn't a surprising sentiment but it did make the meal awkward, and he had quickly found that it was simply easier to eat somewhere else. And there were certainly worse places he could eat than out here; the weather on Yavin was quite pleasant in the evenings, and the view of the surrounding forests was actually quite nice from the docking area. The sounds of the forest life drifted across the dock and mixed with the mechanical sounds of rebel activity as he opened the food pouch carefully. It certainly wasn't anything particularly high quality, but after years of military rations even something as simple as this felt like a bit of a luxury.

"Mrrp?"

Kallus sighed and looked up to find two large eyes peering at him from around one of the crates. "Is there nowhere on this base where I can get away from you?" The loth-cat came around the corner more fully and he frowned, shifting his foot to block its way. "Don't even think about coming closer."

The cat stared at his boot curiously for a moment before looking back up at him, head tilted. It at least seemed to get the message this time and sat down where it was rather than moving closer. The distance combined with the slight breeze would hopefully be enough to keep him from spending the rest of the evening with itchy eyes and runny nose.

He took a careful bite of his meal, the food just barely cool enough that he could eat it without burning himself. The loth-cat's gaze followed his fork as he brought it up to his mouth and lowered it back down. "No. I'm sure there are plenty of other things you can eat." He took another bite, trying to ignore the way the cat stared at his fork as he ate. He knew Zeb was right- it was a loth-cat after all, it likely didn't have any intentions, much less malicious ones- but he couldn't help but feel like the animal was trying to guilt him into giving it food. "I don't even want you near me, the last thing I'm going to do is share my food with you."

"Mrr?" The cat tilted its head to the other side, watching him with wide eyes. Kallus knew he was almost definitely imagining it, but it seemed to have an almost wistful expression.

"No. Stop that." He looked out over the trees as he took another bite but another curious chirp drew his attention back down. The animal licked its lips and reached a paw out hesitantly, gaze fixed solidly on the bit of food on the end of his fork. "I'm not feeding you, go find something else to eat."

Kallus was about to take a bite when he paused. It did have another way to get food, right? It'd never really occurred to him but he supposed it was a stray, at least as far as he could tell. He'd assumed that it living on the docks meant there was someone feeding it regularly, but he didn't actually know that for sure. The cat licked its lips again and he frowned. The light was low and he couldn't see that well but now that he thought about it the cat did look a bit thin. Nothing glaring, but more so than a well-fed animal should.

Kallus looked down at his fork and then back up at the loth-cat for a moment before leaning his head back against the wall with a groan. This was a bad idea. Feeding the animal would do nothing to get it to leave him alone. It'd just make it worse, honestly, as it came to associate him with food. The more he thought about it though the thinner the cat looked and as much as he knew he'd regret feeding it, he knew he'd feel bad not feeding it.

The cat sprang up as he tossed a small piece of rehydrated meat several feet away, rushing over and eating it immediately before looking back at him expectantly. Kallus chuckled slightly despite his best efforts not to. "Bit entitled, don't you think? I didn't have to give you that, and I certainly don't have to give you any more." He tossed another piece to it regardless, chuckling again at its exaggerated excitement in response. Bad idea or no, it was rather fun to watch.

He continued the process as he ate, tossing bits of food over to where the loth-cat was crouched every once in a while until the pouch was empty. It mewled curiously as he stood up slowly and he sighed. "Sorry, that's all I've got. You'll have to find someone else to bother if you're still hungry. And no, get back." He shooed the cat back with his foot as it started to walk towards him, wincing slightly at the sudden increase in weight on his bad leg. "Just because I fed you doesn't mean I'm going to pet you."

The cat scampered off and Kallus set off towards his quarters with another sigh. It was still early but he'd finished his report before dinner and without work to occupy his time there wasn't much for him to do. The Ghost crew were the only people who might not mind his presence and they were off on a mission at the moment, so that didn't leave him with many options. Besides, his roommate didn't usually turn in until later; if he was lucky, going to bed early meant he might get a few hours of good sleep before the snoring began.

XXX

The sight of a long tail hanging over the edge of his chair earned a sigh from Kallus, but there was no surprise behind it anymore. Feeding the loth-cat had been just as terrible an idea as he'd thought it would be and the animal seemed solely focused on him now. It had even begun following him from the mess hall to wherever he ended up eating dinner, seeming to have made the connection between the trip and subsequent bits of food in the week since the first incident. He knew he should stop feeding it- all he was doing was encouraging it- but it always managed to make itself look pitiful and hungry as soon as he sat down. Zeb would no doubt find this hilarious when he and the crew got back to base, and Kallus had mentally started trying to prepare for the teasing.

In the meantime, though, he had work to do. He nudged the sleeping cat with his datapad, earning an annoyed noise as it hopped down. "Come on, go bother someone else." He carefully stepped away as the cat tried to rub against his leg, rolling his eyes slightly. "No, go away. I'm not petting you."

The analyst at the station next to his glanced over curiously and he gave them an apologetic smile before brushing the fur off his seat as best he could and sitting down. The gesture was futile and he knew he probably only had about half an hour before his allergies started kicking in, but he went through the motions all the same. As much as he hated to admit it, he probably would need to stop by the infirmary to get allergy meds at some point. He could work through his symptoms without too much issue but sneezing his way through briefings was…a bit embarrassing. He was sure Zeb would tease him for that too, but at least he'd get through his briefings in peace.

XXX

"Bit of an odd place to eat, isn't it?"

Kallus shrugged. "Less crowded, and," he gestured out to the forest, "a better view."

Zeb motioned to the crate beside the one Kallus was sitting on. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Kallus took a bite of his meal and shifted to make sure there was plenty of space for Zeb to sit. "How'd the mission go? The Ghost certainly looked a little worse for wear when she came in yesterday."

"Yeah, it'll take a few days for Hera to fix her back up. Things were going well up until the end, and we ended up having to shoot our way out."

"Hm, that did tend to be the pattern with you all."

"Shut up." Zeb hit Kallus' arm slightly with a laugh, and Kallus smiled a little in return. Zeb leaned back against the wall, opening his own pouch of food. "How're ya settling in? Been nearly two months now."

Kallus shrugged, smile faltering, and he looked down at his food. "It's been fine." He knew it certainly could be worse- the comments muttered behind his back just loud enough for him to hear had mostly stopped at least- but settling in wasn't exactly how he would describe his time on the base so far. Adjusting, perhaps, but not settling in. "I've gotten into a routine, which is nice."

He could almost hear Zeb frowning as he shifted to look at Kallus. "Are people giving you a hard time?"

"No, it's been fine. Better than I figured it would be, at least." He looked back over at Zeb with what he hoped was a convincing smile. "I'm settling in alright." A loud cry from by his feet pulled his attention away and he rolled his eyes, tossing a bit of meat down to where the loth-cat was sitting. "See? I've even managed to make a friend."

Zeb's laughter was loud enough that it startled the cat, which skittered behind one of the crates at the noise. "What happened to it being a 'kriffing furball'?"

"Oh it's still precisely that. I can't stand it in the least."

Zeb raised an eyebrow. "Which is why you're feeding it directly from your dinner, of course."

Kallus tried to bite down on his grin, tossing another piece of meat over as the cat stuck its head cautiously back around the corner. "It looked hungry and I felt bad. Doesn't mean I like it though. Just means I can be manipulated by particularly persistent loth-cats, apparently."

"Alexsandr Kallus, guilt tripped into feeding a stray loth-cat." Zeb chuckled and leaned back against the wall, nudging Kallus slightly with his elbow. "You're a softie, Kal. You try and hide it, but you are."

"I absolutely am not."

"Says the man feeding a stray animal he claims not to like just because he felt bad for it."

"I was manipulated, thank you very much." Kallus leaned back against the wall as well, grinning more fully. "Don't you dare tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold, you know."

"Not a word."

They fell into companionable silence as they ate, Kallus still occasionally tossing scraps to the cat. It was nice having company. Keeping a low profile had been his main goal over the weeks and he rarely interacted with anyone outside of what was purely necessary, so spending time with someone was a nice change of pace. "Will you be on base long?"

"Yeah at least a week or two, what with the Ghost in the shape it's in." Zeb glanced over at him. "I'm guessing I can probably either find you out here or at your workstation?"

"Like I said, I've gotten into a routine."

"Well, maybe I'll come bother ya sometimes. Make sure you aren't working yourself half to death."

"I know my limits, Zeb," Kallus laughed quietly. "But I look forward to the company all the same."

XXX

Kallus looked down at the two small pills in his hand as he waited for the caf to finish brewing. He'd taken allergy meds a few times previously- usually when a mission or cover had necessitated it- but he'd still felt a bit odd going to the infirmary to ask for them. It was such a small, unimportant thing and he felt bad wasting their time and supplies. The almost constant sneezing and sniffling and watery eyes had finally gotten to be too much though, especially during briefings, and he'd finally broken down and gone. Thankfully he'd only had to deal with one of the supply droids; that somehow made the interaction slightly less awkward.

He swallowed the pills right as he heard the patter of claws on stone coming up behind him. He turned to find a large set of eyes staring up at him and chuckled. "Right on time."

The loth-cat padded in a small circle by his feet before sitting down on its haunches and looking back up at him. It had started coming to find him in the mess hall first thing in the morning over the past few days. He wondered if it expected food from him; the mess hall in the evening meant it was about to get a little bit to eat, but Kallus tended to stick with plain rations bars in the morning so that meant no scraps. Even if that was what it was expecting, though, it seemed perfectly content to simply pad around him as he leaned against the counter and follow him through the halls to the data terminal area. It was, he supposed, far from the worst way he could start his morning.

The cat turned in a circle again, chirping up at him. Kallus raised his eyebrows, staring back down at it in return. "You know I'm not going to pet you. It's not happening." The animal tilted its head and he couldn't help but laugh slightly at the movement; it was an almost human-like quality, the head tilt, as though the cat was listening to his words and actually considering them.

He was pouring the caf into his mug when the cat let out a small sound of effort and leapt onto the counter. Kallus stared at it, surprised, and it watched him back curiously, tilting its head again and chirping quietly. After a moment it took a few steps forward, stretching its paws out towards him curiously. He was about to shoo it off the countertop and away from him when he paused. He had just taken allergy meds, so his main reason for not wanting the cat near him wasn't really a concern now; by the time his symptoms would normally have started up, the medication should've already kicked in. The cat took advantage of his sudden hesitation to butt its head against his arm. It looked up at him briefly, as though waiting to be nudged away, before rubbing against his arm again and sniffing his hand. He extended his fingers towards it uncertainly and it took the invitation, rubbing its face against them.

Kallus smiled slightly, scratching the cat's chin. "Okay," he muttered. "I guess I can pet you a little."

XXX

As much as eating outside had started off simply as an attempt to stay out of people's way, Kallus had to admit the view really was worth the extra walk on days like this. The weather was, for once, not oppressively hot or humid and the setting sun painted the trees a beautiful gold colour. He leaned his head back against the wall, taking in the view appreciatively. "You know, I never used to understand people who took the full time for meal breaks. Always seemed like a waste of time to me."

Zeb raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Kallus nodded. "There was always so much to do, something that needed to be done as soon as you finished whatever you were currently doing. Just always felt like there was something better I could be doing with my time." He shrugged and took a bite of his dinner. "I suppose taking a bit of a break isn't all the bad though."

"Bit rich coming from you," Zeb snorted. "I think you could stand to have that lesson knocked into you a little bit harder. Barely ever see you take any breaks."

"I get up to make caf."

"And the whole two minutes it takes you to do that doesn't exactly count as a break."

"It's more than two minutes." Kallus rolled his eyes. "Sometimes it takes three."

"You know what I mean," Zeb laughed, elbowing Kallus' arm slightly. "Don't be difficult."

Kallus grinned. "Hate to break it to you, Zeb, but being difficult is a core component of my personality."

"Right, and the reason you eat out here is because you don't like the crowd, not because you're worried you'll bother other people." Zeb gave him a deadpan look. "How difficult of you."

Kallus looked down, slightly embarrassed. He hadn't thought Zeb had figured out the real reason he didn't eat in the mess hall. "Exactly. I'm quite a pain to deal with." He focused on scratching the loth-cat's chin as it hopped up onto the crate next to him rather than look back up at Zeb. The cat accepted the attention gratefully, rubbing against his hand and purring slightly.

Zeb chuckled. "I see you've stopped with the insistence that you aren't going to pet it."

"No point, really." Kallus gave a small one shoulder shrug. "With the allergy meds it's not like there's much consequence to petting it anymore. And it wouldn't stop pestering me for attention, so it seemed easiest to just give it what it wanted. It was worth the trouble for that, at least."

"Of course. Absolutely no other reason behind it." Kallus could hear Zeb grinning. "A difficult animal for a difficult man."

"Mm." Kallus couldn't help but grin as well, though he kept his gaze squarely on the cat. "It's a real troublemaker."

"You should call it that."

Kallus finally looked up at that, the sentence catching him off guard. "What?"

"Troublemaker. Or something similar, I don't know." Zeb shrugged. "I assume it probably doesn't have a name and since you're getting so friendly with it, you might as well give it one."

Kallus looked back down at the animal. It had never occurred to him that the animal didn't have a name, or that it even needed one. Much less that he might be the one to give it. "Troublemaker?"

"Yeah, I mean, it'd fit, wouldn't it?" Zeb laughed quietly. "That's what the elders always called rowdy kits growing up. Bagsvana. Troublemaker."

"Bogsvana?" Kallus tried to imitate the word as best he could but the syllables rolled off his tongue oddly.

Zeb laughed again. "Eh, close enough."

Kallus frowned, sitting up more fully. "Did I mispronounce it?"

"Your pronunciation's a little off, but it's fine. Lasana's a bit of a weird language. Lots of sounds that don't exist in Basic." Zeb shrugged. "Most people have a hard time pronouncing it correctly."

"How's it supposed to sound?"

"It's fine, you don't have to-"

"Bogsvina?"

Zeb laughed. "Okay, that was even worse than before."

Kallus' frown deepened. "Say it again?"

"Bagsvana."

"Bogsvana."

"Closer. Bagsvana."

"Bagsvana."

They went back and forth several more times, Kallus doing his best to recreate the sounds properly. The first vowel sound was the one that gave him the hardest time. The sound felt strange in his mouth, so different from anything in Basic or the bits of other languages he'd picked up over the years. Eventually though Zeb sat back, nodding and seemingly content with Kallus' pronunciation. "There you go."

"Bagsvana." Kallus repeated it one more time, worried that his last try had been a fluke, but Zeb nodded again, looking pleased. Kallus looked back down at the loth-cat and scratched it behind its ears thoughtfully. "Huh. Troublemaker. Bagsvana." The cat perked it's ears up slightly at the word and Kallus smiled slightly. "It does fit, doesn't it?"

XXX

The data terminal area was long empty by the time a small chirp caused Kallus to look up from his screen and down to the floor beside him. Bagsvana blinked up at him, letting out another, slightly louder, meow. "Yes? Can I help you?" She- Bridger had been kind enough to clear that question up when Kallus had hesitantly asked, something about fur colouration- padded in a small circle before sitting back down and staring at him, licking her lips. Kallus paused, looking at the time. Ah. Nearly nine in the evening. Long past dinner time. He stood up with a sigh. “You’re getting spoiled, aren’t you?”

Bagsvana hopped up and ran off down the hall with a series of excited chirps. Kallus chuckled, following behind. He supposed he couldn’t really complain about her insistence all that much. It was getting late, and he hadn’t meant to work through dinner in the first place. The report Draven had assigned him was proving particularly difficult though and he’d gotten wrapped up in working on it. On the one hand, it was nice to finally be given reports that matched his level of experience and skill. On the other hand, though, he knew that increased responsibility meant increased scrutiny, at least until he’d fully proven himself capable, and that meant putting in even more time than he would’ve normally. And, apparently, working through meals.

Bagsvana was already waiting for him impatiently by the time he reached the counter in the mess hall, crying indignantly. Kallus grabbed one of the premade meal packs and began heating it up. Thankfully the Ghost crew was off base again, otherwise he knew he’d get an earful from Zeb about the importance of taking breaks and taking care of himself. He smiled to himself slightly, almost able to hear Zeb nagging him about it. It would be nice when he got back, even if it did greatly increase the chances of him getting lectured about self-care again. Zeb had joined him out in the docking area most evenings while the crew had been on base and Kallus found himself missing the company now that they were off on another mission.

He nearly tripped over Bagsvana as he walked over to one of the empty tables, food pouch in hand. She was weaving between his legs, crying. Kallus sighed and stepped around her carefully. One of the few perks of forgetting to eat until now was that the mess hall was mostly empty. There were a few analysts and mechanics scattered throughout the room but most of the tables were free, including the ones near the counter. With how excited Bagsvana was, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to make it all the way out to the docking area without tripping.

He couldn’t help but laugh as she leapt up onto the table, crying loudly. The dramatics were certainly entertaining, he had to give her that. “Yes, yes, give me just a minute.” He paused. Normally he would simply toss food to her, but that was outside. He hesitated a moment before tearing the lid off the pouch as carefully as he could when he opened it, setting it on the bench beside him and dumping a portion of the food on it. Bagsvana set upon the small pile immediately, not seeming to mind in the least that it was still steaming hot.

Kallus ate his food much more slowly, trying not to eat too quickly even as he started to realize just how hungry he was. He ran his fingers through Bagsvana's fur and scratched her behind her ears as she ate. Maybe he'd check the base's inventory stock to see if they had animal food. As much as the loth-cat seemed to love the rehydrated pouches, he doubted it was the best thing for her to be eating. And he only ate them for one meal, so that left it up to her to find food for herself the rest of the day. She was clearly able to do so, at least enough to survive, but he still felt bad. He'd given her a name, after all, and that, at least in his mind, carried at least a little responsibility to take care of her.

He smiled, thinking back to Zeb's words. You're a softie, Kal. He'd scoffed when Zeb had said that, insisting it wasn't true, but he knew he'd have no argument against it next time. Not with the way he was currently going. That probably would've bothered him at some point, even relatively recently, but as Bagsvana chowed down noisily on the bench next to him he supposed it maybe wasn't the worst way things could go. He'd certainly been called worse.

XXX

Draven read over the report carefully. Kallus stood by silently, waiting for the inevitable comment of it being adequate or acceptable. That was the closest the commander seemed to be willing to get to actually acknowledging quality in Kallus' work, even as he'd begun assigning reports that were more complicated. It wasn't ideal but at least there seemed to be less open mistrust and antagonism, and Kallus was willing to take what he could get.

"Good job, agent."

Kallus blinked, surprised. "Sir?"

"This is a thorough and well written report." Draven nodded at him. "Good job."

"Thank you, sir."

Draven looked back down at the datapad, his attention moving on to something else already. "I expect your report on the Imperial activity on Ison by tomorrow morning."

"Of course, sir."

"You're dismissed."

Kallus nodded and walked out of the command center. He was still trying to process the unexpected comment when a familiar set of heavy footsteps fell into pace beside him.

"You look a bit confused."

Kallus looked over at Zeb, frowning slightly. "Draven just complimented my report." He paused. "Is this what having a stroke feels like?"

Zeb laughed, the loud sound drawing a few looks from the other rebels in the hallway. "You're not having a stroke, Kal, just a positive interaction." He clapped Kallus on his shoulder, grinning. "Come on, you should be happy!"

"I…am, I think?" Kallus' frown deepened slightly. "I think I just need a few minutes to process it."

"Well how about a celebratory cup of caf, then? I was heading to make some anyways, and knowing you, you could probably use a cup or two."

Kallus raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you usually the one telling me to drink less caf?"

Zeb shrugged. "Eh, I suppose I can stop giving you a hard time about it long enough to celebrate a little."

"How very generous of you." Kallus followed Zeb as he headed towards the dining area. He certainly wasn’t one to turn down caf- even if it came with a slight lecture about drinking less- and it would be nice to spend a few minutes with Zeb. The Ghost's assignment had taken several days longer than expected and the difference of those few days had been a bit more prominent than Kallus had quite expected. It was nice to have him back.

"How's the kriffing furball that you absolutely can't stand doing?"

Kallus could see Zeb grinning even as he turned away to set the caf to brew and tried to suppress a grin of his own. "As troublesome as ever. I think I've accidentally trained her to expect dinner at a certain time, so I now have an angry loth-cat to contend with any time I'm even slightly late with eating."

Zeb glanced back at him, grinning fully. "Good. She can keep on top of you when I'm not here."

Kallus leaned against the counter. "You two make quite the team." As if on cue, Bagsvana came bounding across the mess hall, running up to Kallus' leg with an expectant cry. He sighed and looked down at her. "Not time to eat yet. It's too early."

Bagsvana responded with an almost indignant meow when Kallus made no move to grab food and Zeb started laughing again, settling against the counter beside him as the caf machine whirred behind him. "She's certainly got an attitude."

"Mm. And lots to say." After a moment Kallus crouched down and scratched Bagsvana under her chin. "Bagsvana was a good call for a name. Fits her perfectly."

Zeb was watching him with an amused look when he stood back up. "You really practiced that pronunciation, didn't you?"

He shrugged, looking away slightly. "If I'm going to give her a name from your language, I should at least be able to say it correctly."

"Well, you do better than most any other human I've heard try."

Kallus smiled, the simple compliment managing to bring a slight heat to his face. "I'm glad."

XXX

Kallus grabbed a small second pouch of rehydrated meat along with his regular meal as he made his way out of the mess hall and toward the docking bays. The base unfortunately didn't have animal food that would be suitable for a loth-cat, but a bit of searching on the holonet had reassured him that any sort of meat would be fine. Loth-cats were carnivores so the meat was required, but they were also scavengers so it seemed they weren't particularly picky about what kind of meat it was. He supposed that was probably how Bagsvana had been eating previously and how she still got some of her food now; Yavin was a lively planet and there were plenty of small animals in the base and surrounding area for her to hunt. And, well, she'd certainly scavenged off of him quite successfully as well.

He'd been somewhat hesitant to take the second pouch at first. The base seemed well stocked and supplied but Kallus knew how quickly things like that could change and he didn't want to take any more than he absolutely needed to. He'd seen enough rebels take exactly this much as their own meal though that he was fairly confident it was acceptable.

Bagsvana, for her part, had no hesitations digging into the pouch as soon as Kallus had opened it and set it on the crate for her. He patted her side as he opened his own pouch. It was, he realized, the first time he'd be eating the entire thing himself in several weeks.

"Moved up to just getting her own meals I see."

Kallus chuckled as Zeb sat down on the other side of Bagsvana. "She's a growing loth-cat. I wanted to make sure she was getting enough to eat."

Zeb eyed her for a moment. "She definitely is getting bigger, isn't she?"

"Quite a bit, but still a bit more to go apparently. Bridger said she'll probably be full size within another month or two."

Zeb looked over at him, grinning. "He was floored by the fact that you adopted a loth-cat, by the way. He thought you were joking until Bagsvana actually came running up."

Kallus frowned. "I didn't adopt her."

"Kal, she follows you around, you pet her, you gave her a name, and you've been feeding her for over a month." Zeb ticked the points off on his fingers. "Face it, you adopted her."

Kallus wanted to argue but Bagsvana seemed to have noticed that he'd stopped petting her and looked up at him. He sighed and went back to petting her. "I still say I was manipulated into it."

"Right, right. You and your excuses."

They ate in silence for a few minutes. It was nice having Zeb around again; he was good company and Kallus found himself increasingly missing having someone to sit with when the crew was away. The enjoyment wasn't without a pang of guilt though. "You don't have to keep coming out here, you know. I appreciate the company, but I don't want to take you away from the crew." He shrugged. "I'm sure you'd rather be spending time with them."

"Eh, I see them all the time. You, I only get to see when we're on base." Zeb nudged him slightly. "And even then you're constantly working, so I only ever catch you now or on the occasional caf break." Kallus opened his mouth to argue the point but Zeb gave him a level look, cutting him off before he'd even said anything. After a moment Zeb went back to his dinner. "You're good company. You and Bagsvana both."

Kallus watched him a moment longer, surprised, before turning back to his own food, a slight warmth in his chest. "I appreciate it. Really." Bagsvana chirped beside him and he smiled. "We both do."

XXX

Kallus watched Zeb from across the room, amused, as he waited for the caf to finish brewing. As best he could tell, the Lasat was rarely awake before 10 in the morning, but an early morning briefing had him awake several hours earlier today and he seemed…less than pleased about it. He'd come into the mess hall a few minutes after Kallus had and had been sitting at the table blinking blearily ever since.

The machine beeped and Kallus poured two cups of caf, walking over to where Zeb was sitting and carefully setting one of the mugs down in front of him. "You looked like you maybe needed this."

Zeb blinked up at him in surprise before picking the cup up with a resigned sigh. "I do, thanks."

Kallus tried to keep his grin from growing too much. "A mighty warrior defeated by the simple act of having to wake up before 10. Truly a tragedy of our times."

Zeb frowned, taking a sip even though the caf was almost undoubtedly still too hot to drink. "Shut up. Not all of us can function stupidly early in the morning like you."

"It's after seven, Zeb, that's far from 'stupidly early’."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Kallus leaned against the table, taking a careful sip of his own caf and wincing slightly. It was definitely still too hot to drink. "At least you've still got almost an hour before you have to be functional." He raised an eyebrow. "Though I'm starting to wonder if that'll be enough time."

"It'll be close, but I should make it." Zeb leaned back. "I'm assuming you'll be at the briefing too? It's your report, after all." Kallus nodded and Zeb grinned slightly. "Wonder if your furry friend will make an appearance too?"

"I doubt it. The command center seems to be a bit too loud for her."

"I don't know." Zeb nodded down with an amused expression as Bagsvana wandered up and rubbed against Kallus' leg as if on cue. "She seems to follow you around just about everywhere, so you might want to reevaluate."

"Maker, I hope not." Kallus grimaced slightly. "It hasn't been that long since I stopped having to explain why I couldn't get through a briefing without sneezing constantly. I don't need to start having to try to explain why I suddenly have a crying loth-cat interrupting every few seconds."

Zeb grinned at him. "It'd certainly be funny though."

Kallus glared at him briefly before sighing and straightening up. "I still have a bit of prep to do before the meeting, so I should probably get to that."

"See you there, then." Zeb nodded, holding his cup up slightly. "Thanks for the caf."

XXX

Kallus leaned back in his chair with a sigh. It was nearly 11 and he'd been the only one in the data terminal area for well over an hour by this point. Normally even he would've turned in by now but Draven had asked him to go over raw data from one of the field agents before the daily briefing tomorrow and the system was taking forever to compile the data. It would've been a lengthy task regardless, but at this rate he'd be lucky if he got to bed by one. It was almost enough to make him miss the Imperial computer systems. Not quite, but almost.

"Mrrr?"

Kallus chuckled as a set of paws reached up to the edge of the console, accompanied by a quiet chirp. He reached over, scratching Bagsvana under her chin. "Glad to see I'm not the only one still up right now." After a moment she hopped up onto the console, head butting his shoulder. She was already purring, the sound loud in the otherwise relatively quiet area. Kallus raised an eyebrow. "If you're trying to get more food out of me, it's not going to work. I gave you dinner earlier." Bagsvana chirped happily as he scratched her chin again and he smiled. "Or maybe you just want attention. Because you're absolutely starved for that."

He glanced around briefly, making sure he was in fact the only one in the area. It was a bit stupid of him but he'd found himself talking to Bagsvana as though she was another person, which certainly wasn't something he wanted to have to explain to any of the other analysts. Zeb already teased him enough for the habit as it was. Kallus sighed and looked back at the loth-cat. "You're a surprisingly good conversation partner though, aren't you? Very agreeable, even if you are a bagsvana."

Even now, the sounds still felt foreign in his mouth. He tried to make sure to use her name out loud every once in a while just to make sure he didn't lose the proper pronunciation. Zeb had insisted it wasn't a big deal, but it was his language; the least Kallus could do was try to speak it correctly. It had never really occurred to him how different the pronunciation might be from Basic, but now that he knew there was no reason not to try.

He leaned back with a slight frown, a thought occurring to him suddenly. Even though everyone called him 'Zeb', his actual name was Garazeb. Kallus had heard command use it once or twice, but that was it. And each time had been with a Basic pronunciation. How similar- or different- was the actual Lasana pronunciation? He'd always assumed Zeb went by a nickname simply because of familiarity, but maybe that wasn't quite the case.

A beep from his data terminal drew his attention back to the moment- the system had finally finished compiling this round of data. He sighed again and gently shooed Bagsvana down off the console. "I have to get back to work, sorry."

She landed with an annoyed squeak. A moment later he felt a small weight settle on his boots under the console and he smiled; he might not get to bed at a reasonable hour, but at least he'd have some company.

XXX

"Kal!"

The sound of his own name caught Kallus slightly off guard as he headed back toward the intelligence department and he paused, looking around. Zeb was leaning against the hull of the Ghost, waving him over from across the docks. He made his way over, caf in hand, trying his best not to end up in the way of the various mechanics and droids hurrying through the area. "Yes?"

"Hera and I were just about to take a caf break, you should join. And," he held up a hand, cutting off Kallus before he had even fully opened his mouth to reply, "before you say you have work to be getting back to, you've been working straight for hours. You have time for a small break."

Kallus hesitated, glancing at where Hera was seated a few feet away. He'd certainly begun spending more time with Zeb, but the rest of the crew was a different story. He'd mostly tried to stay out of their way, and he didn't want to start intruding now. "I really do have quite a bit of work to get back to…"

"I think Draven can handle you taking a five or ten minute break." Hera motioned to one of the empty crates by the Ghost's loading ramp. "From what Zeb's said, you don't take nearly enough of them."

He frowned over at Zeb as he sat down, but the Lasat just flashed him a grin in return. "I take an adequate amount."

"No you don't, and you know it." Zeb sighed. "I'm pretty sure the only reason you even break for dinner is because Bagsvana bothers you until you feed her."

Kallus laughed slightly. "She's certainly persistent, that's for sure."

Hera raised an eyebrow. "I have to admit, I'm curious about this loth-cat you apparently ended up adopting."

"It was, well, a bit of an accident, really. I'm actually allergic." He shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed. "She wouldn't leave me alone though, so I guess this is where we're at."

"He's leaving out the part where he started feeding her because he felt bad."

"I was manipulated, thank you very much, and I refuse to take responsibility for it because of that."

"Manipulated by a loth-cat?" Hera laughed.

Kallus leveled a look at her. "You haven't seen her begging for food. She's very…persuasive."

Zeb nudged Hera. "He means cute."

Kallus looked away and took a drink of his caf, trying to ignore the slight heat starting to rise in his cheeks. "Maybe."

Hera laughed harder. "Who knew that your weakness was small, cute animals all along? You’d have been so much easier to beat if we’d known that.”

Kallus sighed. “I already get enough teasing from Zeb, I really don’t need any more.”

“Oh this is nothing.” Hera gave him a smile that somehow managed to be both perfectly innocent and worryingly malicious. “You just better hope Sabine doesn't find out or you’ll never hear the end of it, I guarantee it.”

He groaned. “I’m getting the feeling she’s going to be finding out soon no matter what I do.”

She shrugged, sipping at her own cup of caf. “It’s a big base, people talk. I can’t promise she won’t hear something.”

“Lovely.” He looked over at Zeb with an exasperated expression. “If you’re trying to get me to take more breaks, you’re doing a bad job of it. At this rate I’m going to have to stop leaving the data terminal area unless you all are asleep or off base.”

Zeb was still grinning. “Or Bagsvana wants dinner.”

Kallus sighed again. “Yes. Or Bagsvana wants dinner.”

Zeb grinned even wider. “Which really doesn’t help your position.”

“All you’re doing is giving me more reasons to avoid interacting with anyone, you know that, right?”

“Come on, Kal, lighten up. Don’t think of it as teasing. Think of it as…” Zeb paused, thinking. “Friendly hazing.”

Kallus gave him a deadpan look. “Yes, that makes it so much better.”

“Well, either way, I look forward to getting to meet this apparently highly manipulative loth-cat at some point.” Hera leaned back against the side of the ship. “It certainly sounds like a character.”

XXX

Kallus leaned back against the outer docking bay wall with a sigh. It was odd being out here so late. He'd gotten used to the view during sunset as he ate but the last of the daylight had disappeared over the horizon hours ago, leaving the area shrouded in darkness. The various sounds of the creatures that lived in the forest drifted across the docking area but with no moon in the sky, all he could make out was the vague shape of large trees.

He pulled his jacket a little tighter, trying to shut out the cool night air a bit more, and stared out at the darkness with a sigh. He'd known the last cup of caf was a bad idea but he'd drank it anyways. The burst of energy that had gotten him through the afternoon low point had seemed worth it at first, but he was regretting it now that it was nearly 10 and he didn't feel the slightest bit tired. He didn't even have the excuse of reports to work on; his load had been relatively light over the past few days, and everything that needed to be done was done.

Bagsvana shifted on the ground beside him, rolling over to expose her stomach. "I suppose you don't mind me being awake, do you?" He ran his fingers through her fur. "Zeb will give me what for, but you don't mind." Zeb would give him what for too. He'd become increasingly insistent on making sure Kallus took breaks recently. It was a little confusing, honestly- Kallus couldn't remember the last time anyone had cared this much about how he spent his time- but he appreciated the gesture. It was…nice to feel cared for. And he enjoyed spending time with Zeb, so getting read the occasional riot act over his sleep schedule or caffeine intake was more than worth it.

He paused for a moment before reaching over and grabbing his PADD. Ever since the thought had occurred to him the other week he hadn't quite been able to stop wondering about the actual pronunciation of Zeb's name. He'd considered just asking, but he had the feeling Zeb would simply tell him it was fine and not to worry about it. It wasn't like Kallus was calling him by the wrong name often; no one called him Garazeb, with the exception of a few members of command and Hera if she was particularly mad. But still. Not knowing didn't sit well with him, and with nothing else to fill his time until the caffeine left his system now seemed like the perfect time to look into it. There had to be resources on Lasana pronunciation somewhere on the holonet.

After a few minutes he felt a weight settle on his lap and looked down, surprised. Bagsvana had climbed onto his legs, looking up at him briefly before resting her head on her paws. Kallus stared at her a moment before resting his hand on her side, the gentle vibration of her purring making him smile slightly as he went back to his search.

XXX

Bagsvana sniffed around the Ghost's kitchen slowly, regarding everything with a mix of suspicion and curiosity. A storm was rolling through the area, making Kallus' normal spot on the external docking bay no longer an option for dinner. Zeb had suggested the Ghost instead and Bagsvana had followed them. More accurately she'd followed the pouch of food in Kallus' hand, but he supposed it was ultimately the same thing. She'd been hesitant about following them onto the ship itself, pausing at the ramp and crying, but Kallus had been able to coax her on after a few minutes, the promise of food too strong for her to ignore.

"Think she likes it?"

"Like might be a bit strong of a word." Kallus watched as she sniffed at one of the cabinets. "I don't think she dislikes it. It might take a few more minutes before she gets to anything beyond that."

Zeb laughed. "Look at you, a regular loth-cat behaviourist."

"Shut up. You're the one who asked."

"Well, I suppose if anyone'd know, it'd be you." Zeb leaned back. "Saw her sleeping on your lap when I walked through the intel division earlier."

"Yes, she's become rather fond of that recently." Kallus shrugged. "It's not the worst way to work, I suppose."

"You know," Zeb raised an eyebrow, "you are allowed to say you think she's cute. You don't have to pretend you don't."

Kallus sighed slightly, giving Zeb a look that felt a bit more pleading than he quite meant it to. "Cut me a bit of slack. A few months ago I didn't even want her near me, I'm still adjusting to the fact that I apparently adopted her."

"Okay, fair enough," Zeb laughed. "Just wanted to make sure you knew. I mean, it's not like you're fooling anybody."

Kallus was about to reply when Sabine wandered in, looking at Kallus in surprise. "Oh, hey, I didn't realize you were…wait." Her voice cut off as Bagsvana wandered across the floor. She stared at her for a moment before looking back up at Kallus with an excited expression. "Is this the loth-cat I keep hearing about?"

Kallus sighed. He'd known eating in here would end with something like this. "Yes, her name's Bagsvana."

"Oh you've named her and everything, I love it." She rushed over with a grin, crouching down and holding her hand out. The sudden movement seemed to startle Bagsvana and she darted under the table and back behind Kallus' legs.

Kallus sighed and leaned down, letting his hand hang down below the edge of the seat. "Sorry, I think being on the ship has her a bit worked up." After a moment he felt Bagsvana sniffing it cautiously. He waited until she butted her head against his hand slightly to scratch under her chin gently. "It's alright." Bagsvana crawled out from under the chair slowly, looking up at him. Kallus patted her head and scratched behind her ears. "Go over and say hello, it's okay."

Bagsvana watched Sabine for a moment before padding over cautiously. Sabine stayed still this time, hand outstretched as the loth-cat sniffed at it, regarding her a moment longer before finally rubbing her cheeks against Sabine's fingers. Kallus sat up. "I wonder if the other pilots were strict about not letting any of the dock animals on their ships and that's why she's so skittish right…" He trailed off as he looked over. Zeb was watching him with a small smile and Kallus frowned slightly, suddenly self conscious. "What?"

"Nothing. Just…" Zeb shrugged, turning and looking over to where Sabine was now petting a less suspicious looking Bagsvana. "I like seeing this side of you, that's all."

Kallus blinked, caught off guard by the comment, and quickly turned back to his half eaten dinner as he felt a bit of colour rising in his cheeks. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Zeb chuckled. "Just like you think Bagsvana sleeping on your lap is acceptable and not cute."

Kallus couldn't help but laugh quietly in return. "Yeah." He smiled. "Exactly."

XXX

"You'll be careful, right?"

Zeb laughed. "We're always careful."

Kallus frowned. "Yes, and you always still manage to come back shot up. And you in particular," he gave Zeb a pointed look, "are especially bad about getting yourself into trouble."

"We'll be fine, Kal, don't worry. This isn't our first mission."

"I know." He looked away, still frowning. Zeb was right, it wasn't like this was the first time they'd done this and Kallus knew better than anyone how difficult the Ghost crew was to catch, but he still didn't like it. This wasn't just a simple, low stakes assignment. They were trying to extract a group of defecting engineers. A mission like that came with danger, and Kallus was painfully aware of that; he'd written the report for the briefing, he knew exactly what sort of odds they'd be up against. And those odds weren't great, even for the Ghost.

"Hey, Kal." Kallus felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back over. Zeb was looking at him with a serious expression. "We'll be fine. I promise."

"I know." Kallus sighed. "This is what you get for taking missions where I'm assigned as the intel agent. You have to deal with me worrying about everything that I know could go wrong. Which I will do, despite any and all assurances that I don't need to."

"I wouldn't expect any different." Zeb gave him a small smile and squeezed his shoulder slightly before stepping back with a sigh of his own. "Well, I think we're about ready to leave so I should get to the ship. And you," he crouched down to pet Bagsvana, who was sitting by his leg, "keep an eye on him while I'm gone, yeah? Make sure he eats." Kallus laughed quietly; the sight didn't do much to ease his worry, but it was sweet nonetheless. Zeb looked back up at him as he stood back up. "See ya in a few days. Try to stay out of trouble."

Kallus nodded and watched Zeb walk off across the docks to the Ghost, frowning again as the worry settled into his chest. Luckily it shouldn't be a long assignment and Zeb and the rest of them should be back within a few rotations. Bagsvana rubbed up against his leg and looked up at him with a small meow. He looked down at her with a sigh. "I know, I don't like it either." He looked back out at the Ghost for a moment before turning to head back to the data terminal area. The assignment made him anxious enough as it was; he got the feeling watching the Ghost actually leave for it would just make things worse. "Come on, there's plenty of work that still needs to be done in the meantime."

Even with his worry, he couldn't help but smile at the quiet patter of paws behind him as he made his way down the hall.

XXX

Bagsvana sat down by the food pouch, looking around. She'd been oddly slow to eat tonight; usually the entire food pouch was gone and she was crying for more in under two minutes, but it had been nearly ten minutes and at least half the food pouch was still waiting to be eaten. Kallus reached over and scratched her head, frowning slightly. "Are you okay?"

She cried quietly, rubbing against his hand before looking around again. After apparently not finding what she was looking for she took a small bite and laid down dejectedly by the pouch. Kallus continued to pet her, worry growing in his chest. Was she sick? He'd never spent enough time around animals to know the signs of when they were sick, but given what Bagsvana's appetite usually was, this couldn't be good. Could he take her to the infirmary?

The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted his thoughts and Bagsvana perked up, ears standing up and tail flicking excitedly. A moment later though her ears dropped back down and she rested her head back down on her paws as a pilot walked by, nodding curtly at Kallus. He nodded back, surprised by Bagsvana's sudden shift in behaviour. She rolled onto her side and pawed at her food listlessly, her spike of excitement gone.

It wasn't until it happened a second time- approaching footsteps, excitement, dejection when the person came into view- that Kallus managed to put it together. "You miss Zeb, don't you?" Bagsvana looked up at him and let out a small meow. Zeb had become a relatively common fixture during dinner and now that Kallus thought about it, she generally tended to wait until Zeb had come over before she started eating. With him off base, though, there was no one to wait for. She wasn't not eating because she was sick; she wasn't eating because she thought it wasn't quite time yet.

Kallus sighed and scratched under her chin. He couldn't exactly blame her; it felt odd to eat without Zeb's company now. Even when they sat in silence there was still companionship. "I know, I miss him too. You have to eat though, the Ghost isn't due back for another few days." Bagsvana rested her head back on her paws with a quiet sound, and Kallus ran his hand along her back gently. "I think we'll both be glad when he gets back."

XXX

Kallus played the recording again, frowning as he tried to focus on the sounds. It’d taken a little searching but he'd found a surprisingly decent repository of Lasana recordings. He’d then spent several hours looking for the proper spelling of “Garazeb'' in Lasana, wanting to make sure that he didn’t accidentally learn to pronounce the wrong thing.

He’d gone into this assuming that the proper pronunciation of Zeb’s name would be different than the pronunciation in Basic, but the sounds in Lasana were far more foreign than he’d anticipated. The “r” sound in particular was difficult for him to form correctly, oddly rolled in a way that he’d never heard before in any other language. He replayed the recording yet again, focusing on the sound as intently as he could.

Bagsvana looked up curiously from his lap as he tried to imitate the sound. He’d intentionally found an area of the base where there was no one else around so that there wouldn’t be anyone to listen to him try- and ultimately fail, at least so far- to reproduce the pronunciations as accurately as he could. It thankfully hadn’t been hard given the late hour, but he hadn’t quite been able to avoid an audience completely. “What do you think? Am I making any progress?” She stared at him for a moment before resting her head back on her paws, and he sighed. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

The more he tried to go over the Lasana pronunciation of Zeb’s name, the gladder he was that he hadn’t tried asking outright. It’d taken him multiple tries to get bagsvana down correctly, and the combination of sounds in Zeb’s name were far more difficult for him. It would’ve taken quite a bit of back and forth with Zeb for him to get even close to something that was right and while that might have been fine with most words, it felt…wrong to have to do so with his name. Sitting around in isolated corners of the base late at night muttering foreign syllables to himself was a bit embarrassing and certainly more than a bit odd if anyone walked by, but it was better than repeatedly mangaling Zeb’s name right in front of him. He’d get there eventually, he just had to be patient and keep trying. No matter how frustrating it was it would be worth it, of that he had no doubt. Maybe he could even surprise Zeb with it, a small token of appreciation for all his kindness and company since Kallus had come to the base.

Kallus rewound the recording and played it again. He’d get it eventually.

XXX

A gentle pressure on his shoulder roused Kallus and he opened his eyes slowly. Had he fallen asleep? The last thing he remembered was working on a report at his station after dinner. Hopefully he hadn't fallen asleep there; sleeping sitting up was never comfortable, and he knew he'd pay hell for it with his leg if that was what had happened.

"Kal, come on, wake up. You shouldn't be sleeping here."

Kallus raised his head, frowning slightly and blinking in the light. "Zeb?"

Zeb smiled down at him. "I know you have a lot to do, but falling asleep at your station seems like a bit much. You should go to bed."

"You're back."

"Yeah, I am. And you're still half asleep," Zeb chuckled. His grip on Kallus' shoulder tightened slightly. "Come on, I think you're done for the night."

Kallus nodded, shifting in his seat. Bagsvana let out an annoyed chirp at the movement and hopped down from where she'd apparently been curled in his lap; he hadn't even noticed her there. He reached down and scratched her head briefly, mumbling an apology to her as he stood up. "When'd you get in?"

"Only about an hour ago or so. Figured I'd walk through the intel division just to make sure you weren't still up and working." Zeb raised an eyebrow. "Glad I did."

"Mm. Didn't mean to fall asleep."

Zeb looked like he was about to respond but stopped, frowning, as Kallus took a step and winced slightly, a slight stab of pain shooting through his leg. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a bad position for a bit too long." Kallus rubbed at the muscle briefly before setting off slowly across the room, Zeb keeping pace beside him. He was somewhat more awake now, but he could still feel sleep pulling at him; Zeb was right, he needed to go to bed.

"Your leg still bothering you much?"

Kallus shrugged. "It gets a bit stiff, but it's usually fine." Most of the pain had already faded now that he was up and moving, but there was a lingering dull ache that promised a bad day tomorrow. He sighed; he'd deal with that when he got up in the morning. "How did the mission go?"

"Eh it was fine. Bit of a shooting match at the end, but we got out mostly without any issues. Just took a slightly more convoluted hyperdrive route to get back, just in case." Zeb nudged him slightly with a small grin. "Don't tell me you were still worried."

"Of course I was. I've spent enough time around you all to know that nothing ever goes to plan when you're the ones doing it." Kallus did his best to stifle a yawn, only partially succeeding and earning a quiet laugh from Zeb. "I'm glad you got out without too much trouble though."

The walk from the intel division to Kallus' quarters was thankfully a short one, but Kallus was already having a hard time keeping his eyes open by the time they were nearing his room. Zeb chuckled as he came to a stop outside of Kallus' door. "That an engine running nearby, or your roommate?"

"Roommate," Kallus sighed. "This is why I sleep so little, in case you were wondering."

Zeb gave him an amused look. "I'm sure it's one of the reasons." He clapped Kallus on the shoulder lightly. "Get some sleep. You need it."

"Mm." Kallus rested his hand on Zeb's arm as he opened the door. "Glad you're back safe."

XXX

Hera threw down her cards in frustration. "Dammit! How are you this good at sabacc?!"

Kallus shrugged, reaching out and sliding the credits across the table to his seat. "It was a favourite among the cadets. I got pretty good at it during my academy years."

Hera narrowed her eyes, watching him closely. "A little too good."

"Ah come on, Kal's not cheating." Zeb paused a moment before looking over. "Right?"

"I promise I'm not. Though," Kallus raised an eyebrow, "asking a cheater if they're cheating probably isn't going to get you a very honest answer."

Zeb hit his arm lightly as Hera started shuffling the cards again for another round. Eating dinner with the crew had become more common recently, but when a post-dinner game of sabacc had started up he'd figured that was his cue to leave. Zeb had called him back over though and Hera had dealt him a hand, and three rounds later he was still seated with Bagsvana now curled up on his lap, so it appeared he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"If it makes you feel any better, he at least doesn't feel like he's cheating." Kanan took a sip of his tea. "I think he's just better at sabacc than you are."

Hera glared over at him. "Thank you, Kanan, that helps immensely."

He raised his cup slightly. "Glad to be of service." He looked over at Kallus with a small smile. "She was the reigning sabacc champion on the ship up until now, so I think she's just mad about that."

Kallus nodded. The Jedi's ability to know exactly where everyone was despite his blindness was, admittedly, still a little unsettling but he was beginning to get somewhat more used to it. "Well, I guess you'll just have to win the title back." He gestured down to Bagsvana. "Looks like I'll be stuck here a while anyways."

Zeb grinned. "Because there's no way you could make her get up."

"Absolutely not. I don't know how you could even suggest such a thing."

They played another three rounds- Hera winning one, Kallus winning the other two- before Hera finally sighed. "Alright, I think that's it for me tonight. I guess I'll have to reclaim my title another day." She shot Kallus a look from across the table. "Though I'm still not entirely convinced you're playing fair."

Kallus held his hands up. "I promise I am."

Hera watched him suspiciously as she stood up, glancing back periodically as she walked out of the Ghost's galley, Kanan close behind her, as if she might somehow catch evidence of him cheating. Zeb chuckled. "I have a feeling you're going to get challenged to a lot more games of sabacc from now on."

Kallus shrugged, petting Bagsvana's side gently. She'd stayed curled in his lap the entire time, and he didn't see any reason to wake her just yet. "There are certainly worse ways to pass the time."

"I have to know, though." Zeb turned to look at him. "Did you cheat? I promise I won't tell her if you did."

Kallus frowned. "Don't you start in too."

"Come on, Hera always demolishes the rest of us in sabacc and she only managed to win one game against you." Zeb raised an eyebrow. "Even you have to admit it's at least a bit suspicious."

"I swear to the Maker, Zeb, I didn't cheat. Honestly. I just got really good at it while I was a cadet." Kallus paused. "Also, she has a tell."

Zeb blinked. "She does?"

"Two of them, actually. One for when she's nearing 23 and one for when she's gone over."

He frowned slightly. "I've been playing against her for a couple years by this point and I've never noticed anything."

"They're certainly subtle, but they're there." Kallus looked over at him with a slight grin. "You have a couple too."

"What?" Zeb's frown deepened. "No I don't."

"You absolutely do."

"What are they?"

Kallus laughed. "If I tell you, you'll stop doing them."

"Please?"

"No."

Zeb sighed and leaned back against the wall behind the bench they were seated on. "Fine. And I guess I maybe should've seen this coming, playing against an ex-intelligence agent and all."

Kallus grinned again. "Yeah, that's definitely on you."

Zeb shot him a glare without any malice behind it. "Don't rub it in." After a moment he reached over, scratching Bagsvana lightly behind her ears and earning a small, contented chirp in return. "You're really just going to sit here until she decides to get up on her own, aren't you?"

Kallus raised an eyebrow. "Would you make her get up?"

Zeb chuckled. "We're not talking about me."

"You'd do the exact same thing and you know it." Kallus frowned as Zeb looked over at him with a grin. "Don't you dare call me a softie again."

Zeb's laughter was loud enough that Bagsvana's head shot up, alert. "You are though. You're the biggest one I know, without a doubt. All business and gruff looks until you're around this little womp rat, and then you won't get up because she's sleeping and you don't want to disturb her." He leaned in slightly, nudging Kallus with his shoulder. "Admit it, Kal, you're a softie."

Kallus could feel himself getting red and looked down. "Stars, I hate you sometimes."

"No ya don't."

Kallus laughed quietly. "No," he agreed after a moment, "I don't."

XXX

In retrospect, Kallus supposed he should’ve seen the whole incident coming.

Bagsvana followed him nearly everywhere by this point. Sabine had started referring to the two of them as a package deal and Kallus supposed that wasn't exactly wrong. His workstation, the mess hall, the Ghost, the docking area- if he was there, it was usually just a matter of time before Bagsvana showed up too. The one exception had been the command center. It was a busy area, and the lights, noise, and general bustle of activity had been enough that Bagsvana seemed to prefer to stay away from the area. Kallus had idly wondered if she’d get over the aversion at some point, but it had never been something he’d given much serious thought.

At least, not until he was interrupted mid-sentence during a briefing by a very loud, very indignant meow.

All activity around the console stopped. Kallus blinked and glanced down to find Bagsvana seated by his foot, staring up at him. He quickly looked back up; maybe if he just continued, Bagsvana would wander away or decide the center was too noisy and run off. "The building appears to be in use by the…" Another cry cut him off and he looked down when he felt Bagsvana's claws pulling on his pant leg slightly. He shifted his leg, dislodging her claws, and looked back up, trying to ignore the mix of surprise and bemusement on Draven's face. He didn't even bother looking over at where Zeb was standing; the sheer amusement Kallus knew would be on his face was more than he could handle at the moment. "Appears to be in use by the Empire to store…"

Bagsvana leapt up onto the console with another loud, indignant cry. Kallus sighed and shooed her off. "I'm in the middle of something," he muttered, nudging her away with his foot as she started to gear up to jump back up again. "I will pet you later. Now go." Bagsvana meowed one last time before finally scampering off across the command center. Kallus cleared his throat and kept his eyes firmly on the screen in front of him and off of anyone's expression as he continued. "As I was saying, the building appears to be in use by the Empire to store munitions and weapons. Per the field report…"

It wasn't until the briefing had finally finished- thankfully without further interruption- and Kallus was heading towards the mess hall to make caf that he finally felt himself relax slightly, mortification setting in almost immediately after. It wasn't the worst briefing he'd ever had, but it was up there as one of the most embarrassing. He'd spent the entire rest of it avoiding eye contact and trying his hardest to keep his face from getting too red, though he doubted he was particularly successful on that front.

Zeb was waiting for him when he finally got to the mess hall, leaning against the counter by the caf maker. He raised an eyebrow as Kallus walked up. "Wondered if you'd show up here. You do love a cup of caf after doing a briefing."

Kallus avoided looking at Zeb as he set the machine to brew. "I guess it's a bit of a routine by now."

"It was a good briefing. Very thorough."

He risked a glance over. Zeb was watching him with a completely serious expression. Kallus nodded. "I do my best."

Zeb nodded solemnly in return. "Exactly what anyone would expect. Thorough and completely professional."

Kallus could feel a grin threatening to break through his embarrassment and did his best to tamp down on it. "I wouldn't stand for anything less."

"You handled all feedback deftly. Though," Zeb paused for a moment, "I will say General Bagsvana's comments felt unnecessarily harsh."

That was all it took. Kallus tried to hold his laughter back but Zeb's facade of seriousness cracked as well, a grin spreading across his face, and Kallus couldn't keep it in any longer. "She was so loud, I just…" His words dissolved into laughter, the kind that was so hard it made his shoulders shake almost soundlessly and his breaths come in gasps.

Zeb was right beside him. "The look on Draven's face, on your face, you just looked so…" He tried to imitate whatever Kallus supposed his expression had been at the time but couldn't keep a straight expression long enough.

Kallus leaned against the counter for support and covered his face with his hands. A briefing with full command and he'd been interrupted by a loth-cat. A kriffing loth-cat. Stars, he was never going to live this down.

They'd both almost managed to calm down when Bagsvana wandered up, looking up at Kallus with a curious chirp. The quiet noise was more than enough to set them off again with another round of laughter. Kallus was vaguely aware of other rebels in the dining area watching them curiously, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It certainly couldn't be any worse than the looks he'd gotten during the briefing.

By the time they finally managed to calm down again Kallus' sides felt like they were on fire and there were tears in his eyes. He wiped at them, remnants of laughter still shaking his shoulders slightly. "Krif, I think it's been years since I laughed that hard." He leaned against Zeb's arm for support as the energy drained out of him, replaced instead by an almost lightheaded giddiness. "I'm never living this down, am I?"

"Absolutely not." Zeb leaned against him in return, still chuckling. "Karabast, you got so red. I don't think I've ever seen you that embarrassed."

"You try being interrupted by a very annoyed loth-cat in front of high command!" Kallus looked at Zeb with an exasperated look. "I've only just gotten Draven to not actively dislike me, and now I'm going to have to deal with this." He looked down as Bagsvana, who was still seated by his foot, staring back up at him innocently. "Don't you look at me like you did nothing wrong. You deserve the name Bagsvana, you little furball."

Bagsvana chirped happily and Zeb started laughing again, leaning against Kallus even more. The caf maker beeped behind Kallus but he ignored it. He'd pour his cup when he was ready to get back to work and, with Zeb leaning against him and laughter building back up in his chest, he wasn't quite ready to do that yet.

XXX

"It's almost 11, Kal, you better not be making caf."

Kallus turned with a smile to find Zeb watching him suspiciously. "Don't worry, it's tea. Even I know better than to drink caf this late, at least not if I want to get some sleep eventually."

"This time of night I'd say even making tea is a bit suspect." Zeb leaned against the counter, eyebrow raised. "No one makes a hot drink right before they go to bed." He paused, suddenly looking concerned. "I mean, you are planning on going to bed at some point, right?"

"Yes, Zeb," Kallus laughed. "I'm planning on going to bed. Just probably not for an hour or two."

"You do remember the part where I said it's almost 11, right?"

Kallus sighed. "I have a major report due in the morning and we just got information in from the field that might change my findings, so unfortunately sleep has to wait until I get all that sorted."

Zeb crossed his arms. "Draven's lucky you're such a hard worker."

"It's my job to get it done, and it's time sensitive so I don't really have the luxury of taking my time on it." Kallus shrugged. "All of the intel agents in the division would put the time in if it'd been assigned to them."

"Is it something you could work at away from your station?"

He looked over, surprised. "I…suppose so, yes. Why?"

Zeb gave a small shrug. "I have some mission reports Hera's been bugging me to finish up and was thinking of sitting down and trying to get them done out here. Thought it might be nice to have some company."

Kallus raised his eyebrows. "And you're lecturing me about being up too late doing work."

Zeb grinned sheepishly. "Do as I say, not as I do?"

"Okay, fair enough," Kallus chuckled. The machine behind him beeped and he poured the boiling water into his cup. "Let me grab my datapad from my station and I'll be back."

Zeb nodded and Kallus headed across the mess hall and towards the direction of the intelligence division. As much as he wasn't looking forward to having to spend an hour incorporating new information into his report- and he very much was not looking forward to it- it would be nice to spend a bit of time with Zeb at least. The more time he spent with Zeb the more he wanted to spend with him, even if just for small things like this. He had little doubt that even something as frustrating as this would be far more tolerable with nothing more than Zeb's silent company beside him.

Bagsvana looked up from where she'd curled up on the data terminal as he approached. She seemed to have learned to tell when he was leaving for the evening versus simply getting up to make caf or tea, and tended to just stay back at his station when it was the latter. He ran his hand along her side as he grabbed his datapad. "Turns out I'm switching locations. You coming too, or are you too comfortable here?"

Bagsvana tilted her head, hopping down and following him a moment later as he turned to head back to the dining area. By the time he reached it Zeb was seated at one of the tables with both Kallus' tea and a cup of his own beside him. He looked up with a lopsided grin. "I see you brought company."

"By this point I think it would be like showing up without my shadow." Kallus sat down next to him, pulling up his report and the new data he needed to sort through. Bagsvana jumped up onto the bench and curled up in the space between the two of them. Kallus reached down and scratched under her chin, smiling as she stretched out and pushed her paws against Zeb's leg. "I'm lucky she likes you too, or else I'd be stuck in quite the position."

Zeb laughed, reaching down to pet her as well. "I guess you would be, wouldn't you?" He nudged Kallus slightly before turning on his own datapad. "As it is, I don't think you're getting rid of either of us any time soon."

"I think I'm okay with that." Kallus turned back to his report, arm resting on the table. It was brushing against Zeb's arm just slightly and he considered moving it but when Zeb didn't move he figured there was no reason for him to either, even if the contact brought a slight heat to his face. "Quite okay with it, actually."

XXX

Kallus shifted in his seat to make room for Bagsvana as she hopped up. He was rarely able to sit down anymore without having a lap full of loth-cat almost immediately, not that he minded. It was nice to have a bit of company while he worked and had even seemed to help some of the other analysts warm up to him slightly, a few of them asking him about her. None of them could properly say her name of course, but it was a nice shift all the same.

He glanced around to make sure he was alone and pulled up the Lasana recordings. Bagsvana nudged his hand with her face and he scratched the side of her chin, smiling as she started purring. "Think I'll be able to get the pronunciation down tonight?" Bagsvana blinked up at him before resting her head on her paws and Kallus chuckled. "Yeah, I'm not so sure either."

He was certainly getting closer. The 'r' sound was still hard for him and he only managed to get it some of the time, but the rest of the sounds in Zeb's name felt more natural now. Lasana had a strange lilt to it that Kallus had initially found difficult but now that he wasn't spending all his time frustrated while trying to imitate it he'd come to appreciate its beauty. It had a distinct sound that he'd never encountered in any other languages he spoke that set it apart.

He'd even managed to pick up a few words as he'd practiced the sounds. Just basic ones, nothing particularly complex or complicated, but it was still more than he'd expected to learn. Thank you was his favourite. Vor entye. There was something about how the sounds flowed together that was almost enchanting, seeming to carry an inherent emotionality and gratefulness in them. And the fact that the 'r' sound being at the end rather than in the middle of the word made it easier to pronounce certainly didn't hurt either.

Kallus played the short audio clip, listening to it carefully. Most of the clips he'd found were isolated sounds or sets of sounds, but the few that had been actual recordings of full words or sentences had gotten him thinking. As beautiful as the sounds were in isolation, hearing them strung together as actual words was different. More striking. Did Zeb sound like that when he spoke his native language? Kallus had never heard him use Lasana outside of his characteristic karabast and a few other words here and there that seemed…less than polite, and he generally only used them in situations where there was far too much going on to really focus on what it sounded like when he said them. Zeb's voice had always stood out; would he speak as distinctively in Lasana as he did in Basic?

It would be quite something to hear Zeb speak in Lasana, now that he really thought about it. Kallus could almost hear the sounds in Zeb's voice, the rolled 'r's and strange vowels. Maybe, if he kept at it long enough, he would get to where he could actually speak to Zeb in Lasana beyond just his name and a few small words. He smiled to himself; it would be nice, being able to do that.

He played the sound again, the noise earning a curious chirp from Bagsvana. Being able to talk with Zeb in Lasana was something to work towards. Something he wanted to work towards. In the meantime, though, learning to pronounce his name was a good first step.

XXX

Kallus made his way through the halls to the docking area. It was nearly three in the afternoon and he’d been working straight since the early morning, and with the Ghost finally back on base this seemed like the perfect time to take a short break. The crew had been gone for over two weeks on a resupply mission to Ryloth, which Kallus could imagine had been an…interesting experience. Hera’s relationship with her father was, from what Zeb had mentioned, rather complicated to say the least, and missions involving him tended to get difficult. There at least hadn’t been any reports of major Imperial engagement though, which was more than could be said for most of the Ghost’s assignments, and this was the first time Kallus could think of that the ship hadn’t come in with at least some evidence of having been in a recent shootout.

Still, two weeks was a long time, at least compared to how long they were usually off base. Most of their assignments were a week or less and Kallus had found himself missing Zeb's company more than he’d anticipated as the days had gone by. He smiled as he caught sight of Zeb’s large form, his size and purple fur making him easy to spot even in the bustle of the dock. Kallus made his way over to the ship, Bagsvana trotting behind him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Ghost look this unscathed after a mission.”

Zeb turned with a grin. “Not all of our missions end with having to shoot our way out.”

“No, just most of them.” Kallus leaned against the Ghost’s hull, smiling as Bagsvana chirped and rubbed up against Zeb’s leg. “I think she missed you.”

“Did ya?” Zeb leaned down. He laughed slightly as Bagsvana rubbed her cheek against his hand, purring loudly. “I missed you too, you little furball.” He continued petting her for a moment before straightening back up, giving Kallus an amused looked. “Surprised to see you away from your station. One of us,” he motioned to Bagsvana, “usually has to drag you away to even get you to eat.”

Kallus shrugged. “Figured I could spare a short break.”

Zeb gave him a deadpan look. “You accidentally skipped lunch, didn’t you?”

Kallus ran a hand through his hair with a sheepish smile. “Maybe.”

“Honestly, Kal, how you managed to take care of yourself before this is beyond me.” Zeb sighed. “At least I can count on Bagsvana bothering you until you get up and eat dinner."

“I do fine on my own.” Kallus rolled his eyes, trying to keep from grinning. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed being nagged over the past couple of weeks. He still maintained that he took a perfectly adequate number of breaks, but it was nice to have Zeb arguing against him again all the same. "So the mission went well?"

"Yeah, no major issues. I'd maybe avoid Hera for the rest of the day," Zeb grimaced slightly, "but things went fine. Just took us a while to get everything offloaded without raising suspicion. It was nice being on Ryloth though. Been a while since I got to spend much time there."

Kallus nodded. "I'm glad you made it back safe."

Zeb shot an amused look his way. "Kal, there wasn't any reason to be worried. This wasn't even a particularly dangerous mission."

"Yes and I know you well enough to know that means absolutely nothing." Kallus sighed after a moment, straightening up. As much as he enjoyed seeing Zeb again, he had several reports waiting for him back at his station. "I'll look forward to hearing about everything this evening. In the meantime, I'll let you get back to work."

"Wait, Kal-" Kallus had turned to start walking back across the dock but paused when Zeb called after him. When he turned back around Zeb was rummaging through one of his pockets. "I, um, I wanted to give you something."

Kallus blinked, caught off guard. "You did?"

"I knew we were going to be on Ryloth for a bit and I remembered Hera saying something about the area we were in being known for leather work, so I thought…" Zeb pulled a small brown band from his pocket and held it out, looking away. "I thought Bagsvana could maybe use a collar. You know, seeings how she's not a stray anymore."

Kallus took the band slowly, unsure how to react. The leather was dark brown, smooth and soft under his fingers. A small metal buckle was on the end, and something had been pressed into the leather on the main part of the collar. Symbols. It took him a moment to recognize them and place why they looked so familiar, but then it clicked: Lasana. He stared at them, trying to recall what sounds different letters made and slowly sounding the word out in his mind. B. Bag. Bagsva. He looked up. "Bagsvana. It says her name."

Zeb looked back at him, clearly surprised. "I didn't know you could read Lasana."

"I know a little bit." Kallus turned his gaze back to the collar, turning it over in his hands. The craftsmanship was exquisite. He could barely imagine how much Zeb would've had to have paid to get something like this made. "Zeb, this is…" He looked back up. "This is beautiful. Thank you."

Zeb gave him a surprisingly shy smile. "You like it?"

"I love it." Kallus smiled back, glancing down when he felt himself starting to blush slightly. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had done something like this for him, if ever. Bagsvana wandered over to him and sat down by his foot, chirping curiously, and he crouched down beside her, fastening the collar around her neck. It fit perfectly. Bagsvana seemed slightly unsure of it at first, but relaxed as Kallus scratched under her chin. "And I think she loves it too." He stood back up, keeping his gaze distinctly averted from Zeb's face. "You didn't have to, I'm sure it was expensive and…"

"I know." When Kallus finally looked back at him Zeb shrugged, still wearing the same shy, unsure smile as before. "But I wanted to." Kallus stared at him, Zeb's words spreading warmth in his chest. After a moment Zeb cleared his throat, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll, um, I'll let you head back to work now, I'm sure you have a lot to do."

"Right, I…yeah." Kallus nodded. "I'll let you get back to work too." He started to turn but paused, glancing back at Zeb. "Thank you, Zeb. Really." He quickly turned and walked off before Zeb could reply, Bagsvana following behind him. His cheeks felt hot and he was sure he was embarrassingly red, but he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face all the same.

XXX

“Kallus?”

“Hm?” Kallus blinked, refocusing on the conversation. He hadn’t even realized he’d zoned out. “Sorry?”

Hera watched him over her cup of tea. “I said you looked tired.” She raised her eyebrows. “I’m thinking I was probably right in that assessment. Either that or we’re seriously boring you.”

Kallus laughed apologetically, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, sorry, it’s been a long couple of days. I’m a bit beat.”

“You’ve been working on the extraction operation coming up, right?”

He nodded. “There’s been a lot to get done, and with the upcoming deadline it’s been rather hectic.” He leaned back against the wall with a slight groan, Bagsvana’s head perking up from where she was laying in his lap at the movement and noise. He scratched behind her ears absentmindedly. “I’ll be glad when this mission is said and done.”

Zeb looked over at him. “You know you can just go to bed, right?”

“If I go to bed now, I’ll end up waking up way earlier than I need to.” Kallus shrugged. “It’ll just be easier to try and stick it out for another hour or two.”

“You’re going to fall asleep here is what you’re going to end up doing.”

Kallus rolled his eyes and elbowed Zeb gently, smiling slightly despite his best efforts. “I’ll be fine.”

“Hmm.” Zeb gave him a bemused looked before turning back to Hera and continuing whatever conversation they’d been having. Kallus did his best to pay attention and catch up to speed; whatever he’d missed while zoning out had been enough that he didn’t quite understand what they were talking about, but he was sure he could catch back up without too much trouble. No matter how hard he tried, though, his attention kept wandering. He’d blink and suddenly several minutes had gone by and the conversation moved on to something he had even less context for. He knew Zeb was right, he probably was going to fall asleep soon and he really should just go to bed, but the prospect of actually getting up and walking to his quarters felt like far more effort that he was willing to put forth at the moment. And it would mean forcing Bagsvana to get up as well, which he was loath to do. He closed his eyes. Just a minute, that was all. A minute or two of rest and he’d be fine. Fine enough to get through the next hour or so at least, and that was really all he needed.

The Ghost’s galley was silent save for the ever-present low level hum of machinery when he opened his eyes back up. He opened them slowly, trying to make sense of the difference as everything came into focus slowly. There was a deep, low sound beside him, vibrating whatever his head was resting against slightly. “Told ya you’d fall asleep."

Kallus frowned, raising his head and blinking in the light. “I wasn’t asleep,” he mumbled, words running together slightly.

Zeb chuckled again. “Right, of course. My bad. You were just resting your eyes.”

Kallus nodded. “Exactly.”

“For almost an hour.” Kallus frowned again. That…couldn’t be right. Zeb laughed at his expression. “And before you ask, yes, it really was that long.”

Kallus glanced around the kitchen. He supposed it made sense, last thing he remembered Zeb and Hera had been deep in conversation so it would’ve had to have been long enough for that to wrap up and for her to leave, but it still felt strange to think about. What had he even been sleeping on? He’d been surprisingly comfortable and he’d spent enough years sleeping in less than ideal circumstances to know that sleeping sitting up was rarely comfortable. He looked over at Zeb. “Did I fall asleep on you?”

Zeb smiled at him. “I seem to make a good pillow considering how soundly you were out.”

Kallus felt his cheeks grow warm, embarrassment reaching him even through the fog of sleep. He ran a hand through his hair, looking away. He and Zeb had certainly grown close over the past months, but falling asleep on him was…perhaps a bit too far. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean too.”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.”

Kallus looked back over, surprised. Zeb was looking down, reading something on the datapad laying on the table in front of him. “You don’t?”

“I mean, you need the rest. And it’s not like I really have anywhere to be.” Zeb shrugged slightly, motioning to the datapad. “I actually still have a fair bit of reading I need to do, so you’re welcome to keep using me as a pillow for a bit. If you want.”

“I…you don’t have to, I can just head back to my room…” Kallus started to shift, earning a confused and half-asleep chirp from Bagsvana. He’d forgotten she was in his lap.

Zeb glanced over at him, looking back at the report he was going through almost immediately. “Just thought you might not want to make her get up. Not until you had to.”

Kallus blinked, unsure how to respond. “I wouldn’t want to keep you up or anything…”

“Eh, I’ll be up regardless. I can just wake you up whenever I finish with this. I mean, if you wanted to stay.”

He looked down at Bagsvana, who blinked up at him slowly before yawning, stretching out her paws, and resting her head back on his thigh. After a moment Kallus leaned back in, resting his head back against Zeb’s shoulder hesitantly. If Zeb was alright with it, he didn't really see any reason not to. Zeb shifted, making the angle slightly less awkward, and, when Zeb didn’t move away, Kallus closed his eyes. He was sure his face was red but his previous doze hadn’t done much to lessen how tired he was and Zeb’s shoulder really was surprisingly comfortable. His fur was soft against Kallus’ cheek and, embarrassment or no, Kallus could already feel sleep pulling at him again. “Promise you’ll wake me up when you’re done?”

Zeb chuckled softly, the same low, deep sound that Kallus had woken up to. “Promise.”

Kallus settled against Zeb a little more fully. “Thanks.” The word was barely intelligible as the world around him faded out, but even as he drifted off he could feel a gentle weight settle around his shoulders.

XXX

It was a beautiful sunset. Kallus ate most of his meals with the crew when they were on base now but he still came out to the outer docking bays occasionally, on days when the sunset promised to be particularly spectacular, and this was precisely one of those days. The golden light mixed with the late afternoon haze, streaks of warm sunlight filtering through the trees as the buzz of insects and forest life mixed with the quiet commotion of dock activity. He leaned back against the wall, savouring the view. "You know, I realized something today."

"Oh?" Zeb looked over at him.

"It's been a year since Atollon. Since I officially joined the rebellion." He looked down at Bagsvana curled in his lap. "So much has changed."

"I suppose it has, hasn't it?" Zeb paused. "For the better, I like to think at least."

Kallus chuckled. "Definitely for the better." He stroked Bagsvana's fur gently, running his finger along her collar. The thin band of leather still made him smile slightly every time he saw it. "You've been a big part of that."

Zeb laughed. "Ah, you're giving me too much credit."

"No, really." Kallus looked back out over the trees, still running his fingers through Bagsvana's fur. "I didn't have a place when I first got here. Everything was so different and I didn't belong; I knew it and so did everyone else. But you didn't care. I didn't have a place to belong, so you gave me one." He turned to face Zeb. The light caught his fur perfectly, making the purple even more vivid and vibrant than it normally was. He'd continued working on pronouncing Zeb's name, but had yet to find the right time to actually try and say it. If there ever was a time, though, he supposed now was it. "Vor entye, Garazeb. For everything."

Zeb stared at him, expression shocked. "Kallus…"

Kallus looked away, suddenly embarrassed. He'd practiced saying the words for so long, actually saying them to Zeb all of the sudden felt like too much. "I…hope I did the pronunciation justice."

"Kal…"

"You didn't have to be so nice to me or be my friend, and the least I could do was try to say your name properly, but I know I…"

"Kal. Look at me." Kallus looked back over at him hesitantly. Zeb's expression was softer now and a large hand covered his, squeezing it gently. "An san avzyl. You're welcome."

Zeb smiled at him, and Kallus wasn't sure he'd ever smiled back at anyone so genuinely. He turned his hand in Zeb's. He'd been right- it really was quite something to hear Zeb speak in Lasana. After a moment he chuckled quietly. "It might take me a little to get the pronunciation of that one down."

Zeb laughed. "How long did you practice my name?"

Kallus leaned his head back against the wall. "A couple months, usually when you were off base."

"Wait, really?"

He nodded. "The 'r' sound gave me quite a bit of trouble. Luckily I had someone to practice with." He scratched Bagsvana behind her ears with his free hand. "She's an excellent listener."

Zeb chuckled. "Well," he squeezed Kallus' hand again gently, "I think ya got it just fine."

Kallus smiled again and they drifted into comfortable silence, his hand still resting in Zeb's. After a moment he leaned his head against Zeb's shoulder. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Kallus paused, thinking back over the months of company and kind gestures, trying to figure out how to ask the question on his mind. Finally he gave up, settling on the simplest, most direct option. "Why?"

Zeb laughed quietly. "Because, as someone once said, you're worth the trouble."

Kallus grinned, glancing down at Bagsvana. She'd shifted slightly, resting her cheek on both of their hands. "I guess that makes two of us."