Work Text:
Thread POV
Thread made his way through the unfamiliar corridor of the Negotiator. He tucked his bucket more firmly under his arm as he walked, his nerves causing his belly to feel like it was full of glowbugs. His squad was on loan to the 212th for a few missions after they'd suffered heavy losses in their most recent campaign. The fact that he was about to serve with General Kenobi and Marshal Commander Cody was intimidating to say the least.
Lost in his thoughts, he rounded a corner and practically barreled into a group of oncoming troopers. Mumbling a hurried apology, he pressed closer to the wall and quickened his steps.
Thread was noticeably bigger than a standard trooper, a fact that had made him uneasy as a cadet. In an environment where sameness and uniformity was the goal, his larger than average size had him living in fear that one false step would have him sent off for decommissioning. His considerable stature did give him an advantage as a heavy gunner -it made his handling of the Z-6 rotary blaster cannon nearly as easy as using a regular blaster for a standard clone.
He finally reaches the conference room and slips inside. General Kenobi and Commander Cody are just beginning their mission report, and Thread sighs in relief that he didn’t miss anything. He takes his place next to the rest of his squad, tapping his vambrace against the corresponding one on the vod he’s closest to in greeting.
“Our intelligence is limited, unfortunately,” General Kenobi begins, crossing his arms. Thread had heard that the General had a Coruscanti accent, but this is the first he’s actually hearing it. It suits him. “I’ll be honest, this situation is less than ideal.” His hand lifts to stroke his beard in thought.
“General, our orders are to infiltrate the compound. Do you think that’s doable with the intel we have?” Commander Cody asks from the General’s right.
Cody’s brow is furrowed and his eyes are dark and serious. Thread can’t help but feel a little intimidated in his presence. Everyone else in the room is silent, knowing from experience that the General and Commander will figure everything out.
Watching them work together is impressive. They anticipate the other’s every thought, bouncing ideas and strategies off of one another fluidly until together they reached the best solution. Thread can tell that the rumors of the level of respect General Kenobi has for the Commander are very true.
“Cody you’ll take the Ghost Squad and our guests and enact your plan, then.”
The General respectfully waits for the Commander’s agreement before nodding to the rest of the room.
“You are all dismissed except for our new friends.”
The others begin to file out of the room and Thread feels a pang of unease that he knows is unwarranted. He’s heard nothing but good things about these two men, and from what he's just witnessed he's sure there is nothing to be anxious about and yet the stubborn feeling of uncertainty persists.
As the last of the troopers leave, General Kenobi turns to Thread’s squad and smiles, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his robes.
“Thank you for being here. I know it’s not an easy situation to be in and your help is greatly appreciated. I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you over the next few days.”
“Thank you sir, it is an honor for us to be here,” Thread’s Sergeant speaks up and the rest of the squad nod in agreement.
General Kenobi smiles and turns to the Commander. Thread can't believe what he sees next… he tries very hard to school his features as the General places his hand on the side of Cody’s neck and leans in. Cody meets him halfway and they rest their foreheads together in an obvious kedable. They speak quietly to each other for a moment then part with soft smiles. The General gives the rest of them one final kind and reassuring nod before leaving the room.
Every pair of eyes on his squad are now focused on the Commander who seems completely nonplussed by their reactions.
“Okay troopers, are there any questions regarding the mission?”
“No sir,” they answer in unison.
“Good. I’d like you to spend some time with the Ghost Squad. Get to know them since they are the ones you’ll be working most closely with on this assignment. You’ll find Lieutenants Waxer and Boil in the mess. They'll be expecting you. We look forward to working with you - we’ve heard a lot of nice things.”
He gives them a warm smile and a professional nod. “Dismissed.”
As they begin to file out of the room, Thread is stopped short by a hand on his arm.
“Thread, can I speak with you for a moment?” The Commander requests and Thread feels his heart leap into his throat.
He’s sure that this can’t be anything good and quickly runs through the past few missions in his mind to figure out if he'd done anything wrong that might have drawn the attention of his superiors. He turns back to the Commander and stands at parade rest. He hazards a glance at his squad as they continue to file out the door and can only shrug at their questioning glances. Cody doesn’t say anything, just taps at his datapad until the last of the troopers exit and the door whooshes to a close.
Thread looks back to Cody and finds him already regarding him with an unreadable look on his face.
“Sir?” Thread asks hesitantly, wincing slightly when his voice cracks.
“I hear good things about you, Thread.” Cody begins, looking down at his pad. “Heavy gunner, brilliant strategist, loyal brother… I see here you carried two vod to safety when they fell in battle with treatable wounds but the medics were unable to get to them.”
Thread’s eyes widen as Cody looks back up at him, the fact that he does in fact need to look up to meet his eyes not going unnoticed. Thread knows he’s big, and he’s used to people underestimating him or thinking that he’s in some way not as intelligent of a soldier because of it. Is the Marshal Commander making that assumption as well? The thought of his superior's possible negative opinion sits like a physical weight in his chest.
“Is that surprising, sir?” He manages to ask with an air of defensiveness.
Cody’s eyes widen. “No, no… not at all. I meant no offense. You are an impressive soldier and I just wanted to tell you that.”
Thread let go of the breath he was holding and relaxed slightly. The thought of the Marshal Commander thinking he was undeserving of praise had him wound tighter than he'd thought.
“Thank you sir.” He felt his face heat and hoped he wasn’t blushing too furiously.
“I, uh, I was actually wondering if you would help me with something.” The Commander seemed nervous about whatever he was about to ask. He’d never heard of the Commander being nervous about anything.
“Anything, sir.” He attempted to reassure.
“I've heard that you can sew… that you repair your own blacks.” It was stated as a fact yet Thread felt the note of question hanging in the air.
“Yes sir.”
“That’s a very useful skill to have and I was wondering if you could help me with a gift.”
“Of course, sir. Who is the gift for?”
Thread’s curiosity was piqued now. A gift? Who could the Commander possibly be giving a gift to?
“The General.”
“General Kenobi?” Thread sputters, his mind short circuiting at the idea that General Kenobi would be using something that he created. “But… General Kenobi doesn’t wear blacks sir.”
Cody chuckles. “No, he doesn’t. The last time we were on Coruscant I had to meet the General in his quarters at the Temple and I noticed the stark difference to his quarters aboard the Negotiator. Specifically, a blanket.
"You see, in the Temple, the General has this thick blanket whereas on the ship, he has the same standard issue one that we have. Since we have thermoregulated blacks, it’s not an issue for us, but I imagine the General gets quite cold.
"I’ve collected some fabric - blacks, old Jedi robes, fabric from a few planets we’ve stopped at - and I was wondering if you would be able to sew it together to make a blanket.”
Thread isn’t quite sure what to say but the Commander is obviously waiting for an answer. “Sure, It would be my honor, sir.”
Cody grins. “Great! Do you have a moment now to come look at the fabric?”
Thread nods, not really trusting himself to speak.
Cody leads the way down the corridor of the Negotiator and they end up at the commander’s quarters. Once in the room, Cody pulls out a pile of all different fabrics. There’s definitely jedi robes and clone trooper blacks, but there’s also shimmersilk and fineweave and…
“Sir, is this Synfur?” Thread looks at the Commander with wide eyes. The thick fur in his hands is a rare golden color.
The Commander’s grin lit up the room. “Yes, it is. I had a little help procuring it from a certain Senator, but it was worth it. You really know your fabrics.”
Thread felt the flush heat his cheeks. “Thank you sir, I’ve done a lot of research in the hopes of branching out to more than just blacks someday.” He looks again at the pile of fabric. “Would you like me to start now?”
“Oh, if you want to, I don’t want to take you away from anything.”
“It’s no trouble at all sir.” Thread is actually vibrating with excitement to begin working with these fabrics.
Cody smiles at the obvious excitement in his face and nods. “I have to handle some reports so I’ll be at my desk but feel free to set up anywhere in the room, there’s needles and threads of all sizes that the Senator gave me as well.”
This was looking to be the best assignment he’s ever been given.
Thread spreads out each fabric, running them through his fingers to gauge the thickness and texture as he begins to formulate a plan. The purpose of the blanket is to keep the General warm, so there’s more than enough Synfur to cover one whole side, which would be much warmer than using it for just the trim.
He lays the blue shimmersilk, gold firmweave, and blacks next to each other and an idea sparks in his mind, but he’s apprehensive.
“Sir? May I ask a personal question?” Thread asks softly. “I don’t mind if the answer is no.”
Cody looks up from his reports with furrowed brow but it doesn’t seem to be directed at him in particular. “Sure, what do you need to know?”
Thread fiddles with the edge of the blacks. “Is this gift for a special occasion?”
“It is,” the Commander nods.
Thread places the gold fabric over the blacks, pleased with the way they look together. “May I ask what occasion?”
The Commander is silent for a moment and Thread is about to say that he doesn’t need to know when the Commander speaks again.
“It’s an anniversary. It’s our anniversary.”
There is a pause as Cody seems to consider his next words carefully before speaking.
“I’m sure you saw our exchange in the conference room. We aren’t hiding per se, but we’re also not broadcasting. Does that make sense?”
Thread nods and the plan for the blanket solidifies in his mind. “Thank you sir. I know exactly what I need to do for the blanket.”
Cody’s comm goes off and he needs to leave for the bridge, so they agree that Thread can bring the fabric and supplies with him to the barracks.
He works on it between briefs, missions and shifts for the entire time they’re with the 212th. His squadmates are curious, but once he tells them that it’s something the Marshal Commander requested, they just watch him silently. Everyone respected the Commander so much that no one would think to question anything he’s requested.
Thread works as quickly as he can, conscious of the importance of his task and determined not to make a mistake while still finishing on time. Luckily, he manages to complete the piece the night before they’re set to leave the 212th. He brings it to the Commander’s quarters and spreads it out on the bunk for his approval and the look on Cody’s face is worth every needle prick he got while working on it.
The one side is completely made up of the golden Synfur and will definitely work to keep the General warm no matter what the conditions. The other side is a tapestry of the different fabrics stitched together as a quilt - black from the trooper blacks, dark brown - almost red- from Jedi outer robes, blue shimmersilk, golden firmweave, and white firmweave.
The blue shimmersilk squares represented the 501st and General Kenobi’s close relationship with General Skywalker. For one of the blue squares, Thread used the gold firmweave and dark brown Jedi robes to create the Open Circle Fleet symbol that links the Generals together.
Some white squares were adorned with Jedi Order symbols stitched from the dark brown outer robes. The other white squares were emblazoned with Republic cog symbols using material from the troopers’ blacks.
In the center of the piece, in a square that made up four of the others in size, was a large piece of the dark Jedi robes. Thread had used the gold firmweave to recreate Commander Cody’s iconic sunburst armor pattern on top of the Jedi robe material.
Despite being incredibly proud of the piece, he was still surprised when Commander Cody pulled him into a brief but meaningful hug and thanked him profusely. The gratitude of the Commander was thanks enough for Thread and he headed back to his battalion.
He had thought that would be the end of it, but a few weeks later he was surprised to find he was wrong when he received an unexpected transmission from a very unexpected source.
Dear Thread,
I wanted to reach out personally to extend my gratitude for the blanket. My Commander explained how hard you worked on it and I wanted to tell you that it is absolutely perfect and I will cherish it forever. Every detail is meaningful and expertly crafted - I cannot thank you enough.
Warm regards,
HG Obi-wan Kenobi