Work Text:
Waxer heard laughter carrying on in the wind, affected by a voice modulator but it was so distinctly Boil that he recognized it without having to strain his thoughts. Downtime was undeniably rare, especially when they were on a mission, but until General Skywalker returned with Torrent’s scouts there was little they could do other than enjoy that for once a planet wasn’t actually trying to kill them and that they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the enemy yet. If they even knew what the enemy was .
He looked over in the direction of th laughter to see Boil wrestling with Wooley over what looked like one of the tooka dolls that Numa had so graciously gifted to the 212th. The kid had apparently had her father organize something with General Kenobi after their mission on Ryloth, and soon pretty much everyone in Ghost had their own little tooka with markings the same as their armour.
The one in Wooley’s hands looked to be Boil’s.
His riduur was fiercely attached to the doll, and commonly brought it along with him tucked away into an extra munitions pouch tucked onto his belt.
The actual wrestling match was playful and mostly out of boredom with no real heat to it, or the insults that both Wooley or Boil were spitting at each other, some that would’ve made someone’s mother blush . Wooley let out an unholy screech as he wriggled under Boil’s body weight as Boil pinned him to the ground and grappled with Wooley’s tight grip for the doll. If it was anyone else, Ghost company probably would’ve been worried, or perhaps even scared that they’d been ambushed, but it was Boil, and Wooley, and those two were always inches away from causing a ruckus together.
Waxer chuckled, and then had to stifle his full blown laughter when Cody marched up to the two of them and snatched the tooka doll right out from under Wooley and Boil’s noses.
“Cody!” Boil groaned as he made a grabbing motion towards the tooka doll. “He grabbed it first.”
Cody and Waxer both snorted at the same time.
“You are twelve , Boil.” Cody retorted but his sternness was immediately washed away by the following laughter that came from every trooper surrounding them who was privy to the conversation between the two. Wooley laughed from underneath Boil and received a sharp elbow into his gut. He grunted.
Waxer finally stood up from his perch on a log and walked over to them, taking the tooka doll from Cody’s hand with a quick nod to him.
“Stop crushing the baby, cyare .” Waxer teased.
Boil sputtered and he sat up, which indirectly put more weight and his elbow further into Wooley’s gut. Waxer held out the hand that wasn’t holding the tooka doll to help Boil up to his feet and he gave Boil a smile even though they both still had their helmets on. Boil gripped his hand, giving one last glance over his shoulder at Wooley that clearly implied that he had won their battle for today. Waxer pulled him up and Boil dusted himself off before he held his hand out expectantly for the tooka doll in Waxer’s possession.
“Waxer.” Boil looked at him when he didn’t immediately set the tooka doll into his palm. A sly smile spread over Waxer’s face, hidden by his helmet but Boil could read his body language like an open book, there wasn’t much either of them could hide from each other. “Waxer no.”
“Waxer, yes .” Wooley encouraged as he sat up from behind Boil.
Waxer gave Boil a grin so wide that it definitely read through his helmet and then he turned on his heel and sprinted, holding the tooka doll over his head like a trophy.
“ Waxer! ” Boil shouted his name, sound mad, but just playfully mad so Waxer didn’t stop running. He could hear Boil’s boots thudding against the dirt after him as Waxer sprinted around Peel and Longshot, who were sitting and dealing a pack of cards between them and a few other troopers. Boil was hot on his heels.
“Go Waxer!” Wooley cheered him on from where he stood next to Cody, watching them with glee audible in his voice.
Boil’s cry of his name was much more disgruntled but at the same time it held no genuine anger, so Waxer kept running, dodging and weaving between vode so that Boil had to change his path just to catch up to him.
Waxer felt laughter bubbling up in his chest as most of Ghost either watched them fondly or joined in with cheering either him or Boil on. As Waxer ran past another huddle he could’ve sworn he heard someone placing bets on whether or not Boil would catch him or if he would give up on the chase and wait for Waxer to return to him. Clearly they underestimated the thrill Waxer enjoyed, and the fact that Boil loved this tooka doll.
“Cyare when I catch you-” Boil ducked underneath someone’s arm and vaulted over a log to try and cut him off. “I promise you will regret it!” He threatened playfully.
“I look forward to it!” Waxer called out over his shoulder, his grin audible.
He turned around to try and spot Boil as he circled their small group of vode again, his riduur was smart and crafty. If he’d stopped chasing it meant that he was plotting, and if he was plotting then Waxer needed to be on guard so he could stay one step ahead of Boil. He clutched the tooka doll just a little bit tighter and his gaze darted around the vode. Cody and Wooley were talking, now distracted by something Crys had brought to their attention.
“Got you!” He heard Boil crow in victory and then a body barrelled into him and bowled him over. Waxer hit the ground on his back with a grunt, the air punched out of him by the weight on his chest as Boil scrambled for the tooka doll.
The sound that Boil made when he wrestled the tooka doll out of Waxer’s hand as Waxer gasped ingrained itself into Waxer’s mind, heart and throat. It was victorious, and happy. He held the tooka doll to his chest.
Waxer couldn’t resist the urge to surge upwards and grab Boil by the waist with both his arms. He wrapped both arms around Boil's waist and wrestled him to the ground. Their helmets knocked together. Plastoid plates clacked against one another and their elbows, knees and frames bumped together because it was hard to comfortable hug with armour on, but he buried his helmet into the crook of Boil’s shoulder and laughed.
And laughed because that was the most fun he had had on a mission since he and Boil had time off on Coruscant with the rest of the boys.
Boil still had his tooka doll hugged to the chest with one hand but the other was stroking the strip of skin that was bared just above the next of Waxer’s blacks and still visible even with his helmet on.
“You alright?” Boil asked, worrying that Waxer’s laughter was covering up either hurt or tears.
“I love you.” Waxer grinned and pressed his helmet further into him, breathless with glee.
“Waxer?” Boil’s brow furrowed beneath the helmet.
“I love you so much Boil.” Waxer gasped. They were a mess of tangled armoured limbs. Boil chuckled and wrapped his arm around Waxer and hugged him close to the tooka doll with a soft smile underneath his helmet.
“Love you too.” Boil replied. Then he jabbed gloved fingers into the softer plating of Waxer’s abdomen. “Now accept your penance for stealing Boil Junior.” He cackled.
Waxer squawked as he flailed and waved his arms to fend off Boil’s playful attack.