Work Text:
“Tech!!!!”
“I’m right here, you do not have to yell.” Tech’s voice sounded from above you, shocking you out of your work enough to make you sit up in surprise. At least, you would’ve sat up, had you not been beneath the ship’s cockpit amongst the various wires and electrical boards. Meaning instead, you smacked your forehead into the panel above you with a pained groan.
“Are you alright?” He asked genuinely, crouching down to offer you assistance from out beneath the Marauder’s cockpit controls. You gave him a strained smile as you rubbed at your now sore head and took his hand to shuffle out from where you were working.
“I’ll live.”
“You called, can I assist you at all?” He asked politely.
“Yeah please, I’m nearly done here, there’s just a few too many wires to fiddle with to get this last line soldered. I was wondering if I could borrow your hands quickly to keep them out my way.”
“Certainly.” At his confirmation, the two of you got comfortable beneath the designated wires. You pulled your torch out from one of the thousands of pockets on your work trousers and used it to aid in your explanation to Tech of what you were looking to do. He listened intently, offering suggestions for improvement where he found them, which you gladly took on, and then set off to complete the task.
With his assistance, you finally managed to dig through the parts and wires to find the exact component you were looking to fix. You examined the damage, pulling out the necessary parts before replacing them with the new ones you’d acquired days earlier.
Feeling rather proud with your patch job, especially when Tech gave you an encouraging nod, you grabbed the two final wires which needed to be joined to reconnect the circuit. Tech shuffled the surrounding parts further out of your way and his gloved hand brushed yours ever so slightly, stealing your breath and emptying your mind for a moment.
You’d been working with the Batch for a while now, having run into them following the fall of the Republic. You were all unsure of each other at first, but following a crossed bounty mission, you ended up bonding with the four soldiers and their little sister and the rest was history. You joined them on their following adventures, providing technical assistance and some extra firepower where you could. It worked nicely, and within the little setup, you’d fostered a strong bond with the Batch’s resident genius. Once you figured out Tech’s factual, and at times blunt, exterior, you found a multitude of similarities which led to a strong friendship. You spent hours listening and assisting him with his projects and experiments, learning everything you could to help bolster your own skills with technology. You were practically glued at the hip, and the other troopers weren’t afraid to let you know it either. Little comments over dinner, slight nudges when the other walked in the room. Tech’s family were relentless. You would put up a bigger fight in relation to their teasing, if it weren’t for the fact that there was starting to be some truth in their jibes. You’d come to look forward to each small moment you spent with Tech, every time he spoke excitedly about something he cared about, or when he patiently took the time to teach you something new in hushed voices while his siblings slept. You’d begrudgingly admitted to yourself that you’d begun to develop a crush on your close friend, which frustrated you to no end. Tech had never shown any interest in you in that regard beyond friendship, and there was no way in the nine Corellian hells that you were going to jeopardise that friendship. Not a chance. So instead, you waited these silly feelings out, hoping they’d soon disappear. And when they only continued to grow, you convinced yourself that things had to get worse before they got better, that’s all it was.
Trying to shake off the warm feeling Tech’s touch left you with and bring yourself back to the present, you pushed on with the task at hand. However, in your flustered state you missed the moment when Tech stiffened next to you as you went to bring the two thin duracables together, not noticing the power coupling dangling in their set path. “No, no wait!” He couldn’t get the words out quick enough before the two live wires hit the coupling, creating a mini explosion in the confined space. Black smoke erupted in front of your face, as a tingling of electricity ran through your body, making your fingertips fritz ever so slightly. Both yourself and Tech were sent into a coughing fit as you rushed to get out from beneath the cockpit to suck in some fresh air.
“My bad.” You said in between your heaving breaths.
The genius removed his goggles to clean off the black film which now coated the yellow tinted lenses. “I did not think I’d have to remind you of all people about the bare basics of electronics.”
“Yeah… not my finest moment, I grant you.” You spared a glance over at Tech and nearly burst out laughing at the state of him. His normally neat and combed back hair was sticking up every which way, while his whole face was covered in soot from the mini explosion. Well apart from the area where his goggles had been, which left a comical ring of clean skin around his eyes amongst the dirt.
Tech finally returned his now dirt-free goggles to his face, shuffling them up his nose with his forefinger before turning to look at you, seemingly with the intention of checking you over, however he paused to simply stare, his head tilting to the side ever so slightly.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” you asked with a serious look. “Is there something on my face?” You could keep up the act no longer, finally breaking out into giggles at your own terrible joke. You watched as Tech let a huff of laughter escape past his own lips.
The mastermind made his way over to you, a dusting of pink peeking through the dirt on his cheeks. “May I?” You nodded with a goofy grin before he licked his thumb and went to brush your check, smoothing away a minuscule portion of the carbon covering your face. “I think that should suffice.” He gave you a small smile and your heart melted. This sweet genius would be the death of you, you were sure of it. That is, if you didn’t manage to accidentally blow him up first…