Work Text:
Alexsandr Kallus had pictured many things when in regard to his defection to the Rebellion. For starters, he hadn't thought that he'd actually live long enough to join their base, nevermind know it's actual location. He also pictured a cold and harsh welcome to the Rebellion, he expected to be shunned by his fellow rebels, something he believed to be deserving of.
And then the the Ghost Crew threw his expectations for a loop.
Zeb wasn't too happy to find out that Kallus wouldn't be joining their crew, but he still made sure to check up on the former imperial agent each time he would leave the base without him.
Which didn't turn out to be all that often since General Syndulla had requested his presence on her crews missions almost every chance she got.
Wren and Bridger had even started joining him at lunch, Wren choosing to learn as much as she could about which imperial weapons were worth taking with her, while Bridger wanted to know which helmets he still needed to add to his collection. Kallus didn't ask about why the Mandalorian girl was curious about specific pieces of specific weapons, but he was almost certain she was trying to built something incredibly dangerous, though he certainly wasn't about to get in her way.
He'd developed a general camaraderie with Kanan Jarrus, joining him and Rex for the occasional drunken rant about life during the Clone Wars. He also had a feeling they'd once managed to convince him to join in during one of their impromptu karaoke sessions, but he couldn't quite remember the next morning and he wasn't about to ask. He was glad he'd forgotten, it was better that way.
Even Chopper liked him, which was more than could be said for the rest of his crew besides Wren, Syndulla was obviously a given.
But despite it all, he still didn't view himself as a member of their crew, nevermind the fact that General Syndulla had alternated between calling him Fulcrum and Spectre 8 -7 already taken by Rex- during each mission.
And now he found himself floating around in space on the powerless Ghost in question. General Syndulla had agreed to the mission on the condition that Kallus joined them, otherwise she wouldn't have wanted to be away during Life Day, but here they were.
And it was freezing.
The hyperdrive was damaged and they had long since run out of power while they waited on reinforcements.
The children -which did include Zeb and Chopper at this point- had been able to entertain themselves for the first few hours, but as they got closer to bedtime -which General Syndulla was very firm on- they found themselves bored and freezing.
"Aren't there some more blankets or something?" Bridger whined as he tugged his one closer around himself.
"No," General Syndulla sighed, reclining back against Jarrus who was sitting next to her, the two clearly using their current circumstances as an excuse to get cozy.
"Stop complaining," Wren rolled her eyes at him and cuddled up at Syndulla's other side.
"Easy for you to say," Bridger shivered. "Your armour is insulated."
"If it's really bothering you so much, I'm sure I could let you borrow it," She smirked. "It might be a bit big on you though, not sure if it'd fit those skinny Jedi arms of yours."
"My arms are not skinny!" Bridger yelled back.
"Sure they aren't, kid," Zeb chuckled, shoving him towards Kanan before settling on the other side of Wren.
"They aren't," Bridger insisted. "I'm plenty strong."
"I would tell you to prove it," Wren grinned wickedly at him. "But Hera'll probably get mad at me if you end up snapping those twigs of yours while trying to pick up a meiloorun."
"Sabine!" Hera warned.
"He started it with all that whining," She laughed, settling back against the twi'lek.
"You two are exhausting," Jarrus mumbled to himself with a fond smile.
A jolt to the leg had him jumping from his comfortable position to look at the droid by his feet.
"Don't worry, Chopper," He added as he rubbed his shin. "You're just as tiring."
They were followed by a few seconds of silence as Kallus took in this perfectly domestic moment between the family. It only emphasised how out of place he was already feeling.
"Kal?" Zeb's voice snapped him back to reality.
Kallus' head turned to find five pairs of eyes trained on him.
"What?" He asked. "I'm sorry, did you say something, Garazeb?"
"You just gonna sit there mopin' all night?" The purple Lasat asked him.
"Moping?" Kallus raised an eyebrow at him. "Who is moping?"
"Yer gonna freeze sittin' there," Zeb motioned for him to come over and join.
"I'm fine," Kallus insisted.
Joining in on their private family moments just seemed too invasive, they were already stuck with him for Life Day.
"Get over here and quit arguing, Kallus," Wren rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah stop acting like a baby," Bridger added with a smile.
"Strange that you of all people are lecturing me on maturity, Jabba," Kallus couldn't help but throw back with a smirk.
"Haha," Jabba rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and join the pile, your body heat is necessary for me to not die of hypothermia out here."
"Yeah, you've seen him," Wren jumped in. "It's not like he's got any meat on his bones."
"Sabine!" General Syndulla warned again. "But really, Alexsandr, you're welcome to join us here if you want, don't mind the kids."
"I never do," Kallus said with a snarky smile directed towards Bridger, who stuck his tongue out in retaliation.
"I didn't know you'd such a problem with cuddlin', Kal," Zeb shrugged. "You certainly didn't seem t'mind it on Bahryn."
"What now?" Bridger asked gleefully.
"That was not cuddling," Kallus insisted.
"Sorta was," Zab shrugged with a teasing smile.
"We did not cuddle," Kallus insisted with a cross of his arms across his chest.
"Kinda did," Zeb teased.
"You two did what now?" Bridger's grin widened. "I knew it, Sabine you ow-"
Jarrus' hand on the boys mouth silenced him from speaking any further, not that either Kallus or Zeb had really been listening.
"That was not cuddling, that was... necessary cooperation on a basis of survival," Kallus insisted.
"Oh, is that what we're calling it now?" Wren muttered to herself.
"And I'm perfectly fine here, besides-"
Suddenly, Kallus was pulled from his seat by a large purple hand grasping his forearm, tugging him towards the pile. Kallus somehow managed to trip over himself -he had a feeling Chopper was somehow behind it-, and landed across Zeb's lap with a grunt.
Kallus' head snapped up quickly, meeting the bright green eyes of the Lasat, far closer than he'd ever been to him before. He could feel his cheeks heating and was certain that they were already stained red with... embarrassment... yes, embarrassment.
"Uh..." Words suddenly failed the normally eloquent man.
"Sorry 'bout that," Zeb laughed awkwardly. "I'll tug gentler next time."
Next time. Kallus found himself wondering when the next time Zeb planned to pull him into his lap might be, in spite of his better wishes.
Finally remembering himself, Kallus hurried to move off of Zeb.
"My apologies," He managed to get out, hoping that his blushing complexion wasn't too obvious.
"Nothin' to worry 'bout, Kal," Zeb promised him, maneuvering the man towards his side and not letting him shimmy away, wrapping an arm around him for good measure.
"Garazeb, I-" He began to protest.
"Just shut up and go to sleep, Kal," Zeb mumbled as his own eyes began to drop shut.
And Kallus thought about arguing, he thought about trying to push Zeb and the rest of the Ghost Crew away from him, but he found that he didn't really want to. And when Chopper rolled over to settle down beside him, Kallus saw no reasons to try and leave. Instead he let his head fall against Zeb's soft fur, and allowed himself to drift into sleep, surrounded by those who actually wanted him for a change.
Surrounded by his family.
"So did you guys do it on that ice moon?"
"EZRA!"