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There was a lot of rain in Yavin 4.
Most of the time, Alexsandr Kallus didn’t mind, mostly because he spent a great fraction of his day inside the temple, decoding encrypted messages and briefing for missions. But there were days when his knee acted up, protesting against the spike of humidity and the change in temperature that came with prolonged showers of rain. And those days, he disliked Yavin 4’s rains with a passion.
Maybe because they were in the middle of one of those days, Kallus didn’t complain or tried to refuse when Zeb invited him to the Ghost to have something warm and let his leg rest. He really needed that kind of break. They walked to the ship as quickly as the momentarily light rain and Kallus’ knee would allow them, and soon enough they were making themselves comfortable in the galley.
Kallus hadn’t realised that Zeb’s invitation came with a cup of hot chocolate of all things. The surprise when the Lasat placed the steaming cup on the table must have been clear in his face, as Zeb’s ears fluttered nervously.
“Don’t you like that, Kal?” He took a tentative step towards Kallus, as if to take the cup away, but Kallus held it more firmly with his hands, pulling it closer to his chest.
“It’s not that,” he replied quickly. Then shook his head and scooted a little on the sofa so Zeb could sit next to him. He did so, but his eyebrows were still raised in a silent question. Kallus tapped his fingers against the warm ceramic of the mug and sighed. “I haven’t had anything with chocolate since… I think since I was a kid basically.”
“What, really? Did the Empire really want to ruin everything that was good in the Galaxy?”
Kallus huffed a laugh and shook his head. His brain was running through a list of things that were way worse than forbidding eating chocolate, but he also knew Zeb was joking, and the pulsing ache running from his knee up his thigh was really asking for a break from dark thoughts.
“Pure evil, I tell you,” he finally said with a half smile and took a tentative sip of the drink. A low sound that was embarrassingly similar to a moan escaped his lips. Kallus hadn’t noticed he’d closed his eyes until he opened them to see Zeb chuckling at him.
“I take it you liked it, then?” Kallus nodded and took another sip. Zeb laughed again, and the sound was almost as delicious and comforting as the hot chocolate. Kallus felt his cheeks going red, but he couldn’t pinpoint for which of all the possible reasons. He didn’t mind either way.
Kallus watched as Zeb finished his cup and then patted his own lap, effectively melting everything within him and simultaneously bringing a million butterflies into existence in his stomach. At his lack of reaction, Zeb chuckled and then placed his hand carefully on Kallus’ bad knee.
“Come on, the medic said raising your leg would be good to avoid the bloating.” And as if Kallus needed anything more than Zeb’s warm eyes looking at him like that to obey, he also leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his temple.
Kallus placed the cup on the table and rearranged himself until both his legs were propped over Zeb’s lap, as if it was the most natural thing in the Galaxy. Maybe it should be, it could be.
“You finish that hot chocolate before it gets cold, Hera would kill me if I had to throw away any of it.”
Kallus chuckled and finished the content of his cup. Then, without removing his legs, he moved as close to Zeb as possible, and took one of his large hands in his.
“Thank you. For everything, Zeb.” He looked up to find Zeb’s half smile and soft eyes and Kallus suddenly felt like he was probably the luckiest person in the entire Universe.
“Not a problem, Kal.” He leaned again, slower this time, and Kallus smiled and met him halfway. They kissed slowly, still finding their way through this new, wonderful thing between them, and enjoying every little second of it.
“Are you kidding me!” Ezra’s indignant scream forced them apart. The scowl on his drenched face grew even bigger as both Kallus and Zeb started laughing. Sabine and Hera arrived behind him in a similar state as the teen continued with his protests, “we were getting soaked out there and none of you opened the damn ramp because you were playing happy couple!”
Sabine laughed at the remark and pushed Ezra so he would resume walking, and winked at Kallus before chuckling again.
“You can complain after you get changed. And I’ll be the first taking the shower!”
Sabine’s words were followed by the tell-tale sound of the two of them racing each other to the refresher. Hera shook her head watching the hallway and chucklin, she approached Kallus and Zeb while leaving a trail of drops of water on the galley’s floor.
“Would any of you be kind and make me a cup of hot chocolate while I change?”
Kallus and Zeb shared a look and couldn’t help the giggles. But before Hera questioned their sanity, Kallus stood up as quickly as his leg allowed him.
“On it, General.”
Hera and Zeb scolded him half jokingly, half seriously for using the title while Kallus laughed at their reaction, and as he prepared three new cups of hot chocolate, he realised his assessment was probably correct: in moments like this, he was the happiest person in the Universe.