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Things weren’t going as well as she had hoped.
The tree was crooked, the lights weren’t hanging where they were supposed to, the food wasn’t cooking like the instructions said it would, and the presents were being very adamant about not being wrapped.
And Rex would be back any minute.
She sighed in frustration and desperately tried to unstick the tape that had fallen to the floor, her other hand busy holding the folded wrapping paper on her gift.
After a few more minutes of struggling, she stepped back to look at her handiwork, and it was…
Well, everyone has to start somewhere, right?
She threw herself on her bed, groaning in anger at that damned red and gold paper that she had spent two whole credits on. How could wrapping a rectangular box be so damn hard?
The front door slammed.
“‘Soka? I’m back!”
No, no, no, she muttered to herself. Nothing was ready. Everything was a mess.
He’s gonna be so disappointed.
She stumbled quickly out of the room, closing the door behind her and standing in front of it in what she hoped wasn’t a suspicious manner.
The look on Rex’s face told her that she had failed.
“‘Soka? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah! No need to worry here!”
“…Are you sure?”
“Of course!”
She needed to change the subject, now.
“So,” she started, “did you find what you were looking for?”
He set his bags down on the kitchen counter. “Not really, the fruit were all already sold out, and the library was closed. Can you believe how fast things are selling out right now?”
“Yeah, well, it is Lifeday,” she laughed awkwardly.
He looked at her for a moment, then at the door behind her.
“What’s in the room?”
Dammit.
“N-nothing,” she tried.
He stepped towards her.
“Ahsoka, open the door.”
He was right in front of her now, and she had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes. From this close, she could see the start of a stubble growing on his jaw. She wanted to touch it.
Wait, what?
That was new.
She swallowed, and blushed a little when she realized his eyes were still staring into hers.
“Ahsoka.”
Right, the door, and the disaster behind it.
She gave up on trying to discourage him, and pushed open the door behind her, stepping into the room.
He entered too and stood right next to her, observing the room for potential threats before finally noticing the Lifeday decorations.
So much for a good surprise.
“What is this?”
She sighed. “Look, I was just trying to organize a little Lifeday celebration, for us, so that we could pretend to be normal, average people. It didn’t end up looking as nice as I wanted it to.”
He looked around the room a bit more, from the half broken tree that she may or may not have found in a dumpster, to the terribly wrapped gift that she had left on his bed, before his eyes finally made their way back to hers.
Had his eyes always been so striking?
“‘Soka, you shouldn’t have…”
She sighed again. “Is it that bad?”
“What? No, ‘Soka, it’s-” he let out a breath that sounded a bit like a laugh, and, thought she might be imagining it, his lips seemed to turn up into a smile.
“It’s really nice.”
And then he hugged her.
What?
He had never initiated a hug before.
Huh. Seems that Lifeday miracles actually do exist.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his neck. She could feel his warmth, and if she focused well enough, she could figure out the different parts of his smell that were uniquely his: soft pine, cheap general store shampoo and soap, a bit of plastoid, probably from his armor, and…was that smoke?
Oh no. The food.