Work Text:
It was a beautiful day on the Negotiator; well, inasmuch as any length of time can really be called “day” on a space-traveling star destroyer. The shinies were training, the officers almost finished with their daily flimsiwork, and the General hadn’t even been hiding any injuries from the medics when Helix had finally pinned him down for a pat-down after his recent op with the 501st. It was perfectly peaceful, the air itself practically seeped with tranquility.
“And if I do it, you’ll show me how to slice Buir’s cabinets without getting caught?”
Tranquility, of course, had never met Boba Fett.
“Absolutely, swear on my vod’ika’s test scores, once I’m through with you the only trace you’ll be leaving is the lingering taste of your enemy’s defeat.” Crys said. Boba squinted up at him, considering the seriousness of the offer verses the likelihood of his Buir’s annoyance should he be caught carrying out his role in Ghost’s latest scheme. Straightening his shoulders, Boba nodded once and clasped a fist over his chest before immediately leaving the room, clearly deciding the future possibility of sneaking extra freezerfluff outweighed any short-term irritation on Jango’s behalf. Ah, if only everyone were so easy to bribe, Crys could own a planet by now with deals like that.
His own role now complete, Crys shot a quick comm to Waxer and carried on his way with a slicer’s ease at the chaos he’d just set into motion. Munchkin took the bait, Operation Codywan B-17 initiated. Oh and look, they were serving pannacakes in the canteen for mid-meal! Stars, it was a beautiful day to be on the Negotiator.
~~~~~
Stupid karking sith fires, but it was a terrible day to be assigned on the Negotiator. Cody was tired. It was just supposed to be a little reconnaissance mission, only a couple of days, nothing to be concerned about, really. It wasn’t Cody’s fault his jedi could find trouble in a spubble-wrapped bunker and insisted on leading this mission himself, not his fault the karking Prime had decided to play unnecessary escort on a two-person assignment, not his fault Obi-Wan had then chosen Cody to fill that second slot and drag him along for this foolery. Not his fault that Cody was about to have to spend several days in very close quarters with the man he loved and the seductive bastard trying to woo said man with their shared face. It was, as Rex was so fond of saying, straight-up not his idea of a good time; inasmuch as anything Cody did could really be called “straight” in the first place.
Loosing one last resigned sigh, Cody finished assembling his pack and set out for the docking bay.
~~~~~
If a vod had told Boba six months ago that not only would he soon see his buir sincerely flirting with a jetii, but that he would come to actually like and appreciate said jedi, Boba would’ve thought the poor idiot had been reconditioned one too many times for all but the most boring of jobs. Seriously. What sort of bounty hunter lets their schedule get taken up in a long-term war-consulting gig just for more chances to look at a pretty face? Not the sort of beroya Boba intended to be, that’s for sure. But Obi-Wan Kenobi was different. He had a fussy accent, yeah, but he didn’t look all condescending the way the longnecks did at Buir whenever he stubbed his toe and started spewing Huttese, either. And unlike Skirata, Obi-Wan didn’t blink and vaguely pat Boba on the head when he announced his latest scientific discovery. When he’d found that cool plant on Vaingar and said something, Obi-Wan sat right there in the dirt with him. jedi robes and all, and tried to figure out why one of the leaves were yellow instead of purple like the rest until Kote had come to find him for flimsiwork. So while Boba hadn’t exactly been thrilled with the idea of having to share his Buir, if it was Obi-Wan Kenobi he was sharing him with, that might be…acceptable.
Which made what Boba was about to do all the more damning, but hey, it wasn’t like it would hurt his Buir’s chances. Cody was way too stiff in his Marshall Commander assignment to actually do anything if left alone with Obi-Wan for a few days, and Crys did agree to teach him a new skill, a valuable, multi-applicable skill at that, for his assistance. So really, it would only delay Buir’s plans for a little while, and he could probably use that time to strategize a better plan anyway. Boba was only being the best future beroya an eleven year old could be, nothing wrong with that.
Carefully checking both ways, Boba slipped inside the fresher besides the loading hangar, and thanked the stars nobody else was inside the usually busy room. Although maybe the rest of Ghost Company had had something to do with that considering Crys had been the one to suggest using it, but that didn’t matter. Boba had a mission to complete. He looked in the mirror, and lightly slapped at both of his cheeks until they looked just the slightest bit flushed, although thankfully it would only be visible to people right next to him. Boba shook his head, not knowing how someone like Kenobi could go through life just broadcasting their every emotion to the galaxy like that; if it was Boba, he’d have gotten big cheek tattoos long before to save himself from the perpetual embarrassment, but he guessed that was just part of being Kenobi. It certainly made him easier to read, in any case. Complexion taken care of, Boba aggressively rubbed at his eyes until he had to blink a kaleidoscope of patterns out of his vision, and took a canteen of salt water from his bag. Crys had said tap water was fine, but Boba was training to be a professional. Details mattered, especially when trying to trick a man like his Buir.
Boba stuck a finger in the water and traced two damp paths from the corner of his eyelids down his cheeks, being careful not to get any in his eyes themselves. He looked in the mirror, and the Boba Fett that looked back at him seemed subtly but fairly upset about something, with red eyes and near invisible streaks on his flushed cheeks. Boba pressed his lips together tightly, adjusting his expression until he looked more like he was trying not to cry and less like he was about to bite someone. It was perfect, and a glance at his wrist-comm showed that he’d timed his disguise just right. With one last glance and a quick run of his fingers through his hair, Boba walked out of the fresher and went to “see off” his Buir. Not that he’d be going anywhere, not if Boba had anything to say about it.
~~~~~
“Alright sir, you’re all set to fly.” Spinner hopped down from where they’d been checking over the discreet ship Obi-Wan and his companions would be using over the next week, absently wiping his hands off on the top half of his blacks as he did so. Obi-Wan smiled appreciably and thanked them as they scurried off towards the next task on their list. Besides medbay and maybe the kitchens, the loading bays of the Negotiator were certainly one of the busiest locations on the ship. While he was capable of performing his own maintenance, no matter what Anakin says, Obi-Wan was under no illusions that he could do a better or more efficient job of doing so than the vod’e whose duty it was to spend so much time monitoring and repairing their array of fighters. The only thing the vod’e couldn’t do was a Force scan, though that hardly seemed necessary with such meticulous inspections happening every three-day and before missions. Still, his beloved Commander did tend to fret, so Obi-Wan extended his senses and gave the ship a quick look over while he waited for Cody and Jango to arrive.
“Find anything interesting?”
Obi-Wan did not jump at said Commander’s sudden appearance, thank you very much. Obi-Wan was a Jedi Master, clearly he just spontaneously twitched like that because tumultuous Force matters were occuring elsewhere at that moment. Clearly. Cody, the scoundrel, didn’t change his facial expression in the slightest but his eyes practically sparkled and his shoulders were angled in that “I am a professional clone and have never not once shown the slightest idea of an emotion anywhere on my face but that’s absolutely karking hilarious, sir” way of his that meant he was laughing at Obi-Wan. Or at least, that was how Obi-Wan interpreted it. It wasn’t like the two of them had ever discussed proper names and descriptions for the different ways Cody’s very expressive shoulders moved. Fortunately, Obi-Wan was saved from having to try and recover from his temporary lapse in poise by the arrival of the third member of their venture.
“Jango, hello! Brilliant timing. As I was just about to tell Cody here, the ship’s been cleared for takeoff and we can leave just as soon as we secure our mission packs and set our coordinates.”
Jango smirked and tilted his chin up. “A good beroya is never late, nor are they early. We arrive exactly as we intend to.”
“Oh so you intended to enrage Helix about that missed physical last tenday? Or are you just not counting yourself amongst the lofty heights of the ‘good’ bounty hunters?” Cody immediately responded.
Jango froze, nervously side-eyeing where Kisses was examining some minor burns on one of the mechanics, well within hearing range. “Oh, my apologies Prime,” Cody added after the ensuing moment of silence, “I hadn’t realized such a mighty hunter as yourself would require time to put together a reply, I’ll be loaded up and in the cockpit when you’re ready.” With no further ado Cody strode confidently up the ramp, not even sparing a glance behind him at a mildly flustered Jango and Obi-Wan, whose own shoulders were now shaking for a similar reason to Cody’s as he held up a hand to stroke his beard and tried to hide his grin. From the look Jango shot him, Obi-Wan got the distinct impression he had been rather unsuccessful at concealing his mirth, but it was always nice to see Jango getting closer with the vod’e. Turning to fully face him, Obi-Wan waved his left hand in the direction of Cody’s departure with a, “Well, shall we?” raise of his eyebrows.
“Oh but of course,” ah, it looks like Jango had finally gotten his tongue back, “wouldn’t do to keep Cody waiting now would it?” Jango grumbled, though he didn’t seem too genuinely put-out about it. Almost pleased, actually. Obi-Wan shouldered his pack and started up the ramp. They were halfway into the ship when Obi-Wan was startled for a second time by the sound of what could only have been a sad, bedraggled tooka kit given human form from behind them.
“Buir? You were going to leave without saying goodbye?” Boba stood beneath them, his miniature beroya satchel dangling forgotten in his hands as he stared up at Jango. Oh stars, were those tear tracks on his cheeks?
“Boba. Boba, ad, no.” Jango dropped his weapons case and hurried down the ramp to put his hands on Boba’s shoulders. “I said ret’ this morning, remember? After first-meal?”
Boba sniffled. Oh. Oh dear. “Well yeah, but. But you—” Boba slumped forwards and mashed his face into Jango’s stomach, muffling the rest of his words. An increasingly panicked looking Jango pulled him back just enough to hoist him into his arms like a much younger child, soothingly running one of his hand up and down Boba’s back.
“But what, verd’ika? What’s wrong, biai liser Ni gaa'tayl?” Jango’s voice was softer than Obi-Wan had ever heard it before, and he felt vaguely like he was intruding on a personal moment but couldn’t seem to make his feet move further into the ship.
“It’s just, it’s just it used to be, when you’d have to go somewhere, we’d do something just us since I couldn’t go, but now you’re always leaving on missions and you said goodbye this morning but not what time you were leaving like did you not want me to see you off, do you not want my ‘stay alive’ hugs anymore, because this is normal now?” Oh. Jango looked just as sucker-punched as Obi-Wan felt, as Boba heaved in a breath after spilling his thoughts so quickly and buried his face back in his buir’s neck.
“Oh kiddo, ad’ika, I do, I promise, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you. I thought you said you were too old for hugs in public now? and I know you were looking forwards to spending time with some of the vod’e today, I didn’t mean to leave you out.”
“I am but you’re my buir. You’re supposed to want them from me anyway even though it’s not cool. or professional or, or anything”
“Ni ceta, Bob’ika, I didn’t realize you were feeling so upset, it’s okay, shhh…” Jango continued to mutter softly to his son as he turned to raise desperate eyes to meet Obi-Wan’s on the ramp, lifting his hand from petting Boba’s back to sign one-handedly at him.
New mission target. Current post, replacement needed. Maybe medic? He tilted his head over towards where Kisses had since moved on from treating the engineer and now seemed to be lecturing an entire squad’s worth of them if the cowed postures were anything to gauge by.
Agreed. Replacement not-necessary. Standard protocol sufficient. I will alert Commander, good hunting.
Good hunting. Jango turned again so that Boba would be able to see Obi-Wan if he looked up, and Obi-Wan smiled warmly at him before waving farewell to both Fetts and finally boarding the ship, closing the ramp behind him and leaving Jango to explain his newly open schedule to his son. Looks like Obi-Wan and Cody would have only each other for company this trip after all, not that Obi-Wan was complaining about that. It would be rather nice, to actually spend some time with his darling commander that wasn’t shadowed by their never ceasing trials of flimsiwork and meticulous oversight.
As they cleared the atmos-lock and sailed down towards the planet to begin their mission, Obi-Wan looked over at Cody and felt the corner of his lips quirk into a smile. It was a great day to be The Negotiator.