Chapter Text
The office felt as empty and lifeless as the chairs beside him. One of those chairs was Thire’s, the other was Thorn’s. Thire had chosen not to sit in either of them, sitting against the wall instead, his knees pulled to his chest. His chest and arm plates lay scattered on the ground, too constricting to breathe in. His comm was gripped tight in his hand as he waited for any communication.
Stone had come by to sit with him for a few minutes, but Stone had to be called away to run the Guard in the absence of the other two commanders. Jek and Rys had also sat briefly beside him before reporting to their shifts at the Republic Detention Center. There was no one else to join him.
The chatter of voices in the main offices died down and his grasp on the comm tightened. Surely Fox would’ve called before making an announcement.
The knock on the door came, but it was not Fox’s voice that rang out.
“Captain?”
“Come in.” His voice had a strength that his limbs did not.
Senator Chuchi entered the office, closing the door behind her. He expected her to make a comment about the dark room or his position on the floor, but instead she asked, “may I join you?”
He nodded and she crossed the short space from the door to sit down beside him.
“Fox asked me to check on you.”
“Thorn?”
“They have him in a bacta tank.”
“And the others?”
“I don’t know.”
He gave a small nod of affirmation and lay his head on his knees, taking in a deep shaky breath. He felt a light touch on his back as Senator Chuchi rubbed the space between his shoulder blades.
“Do you need a distraction for your thoughts?”
He could only find the strength to nod.
“Last week I was discussing my recent trip to Pantora with Fox. I was telling him about the countryside where I grew up and how it felt to revisit it again. I’d gone through my descriptions of the silk fields and I’d started to talk about the lakes and ponds I used to swim in as a child. That’s where the conversation went off the rails. Pantora is very safe, we have few predators, but we do have gharills in the water. And once we’d gotten through the tangent on how some beings enjoy swimming, I made the mistake of mentioning the gharills.”
Thire couldn’t help the light chuckle that escaped him. “And he entered Commander Mode?”
Senator Chuchi laughed at the phrase. “And he entered Commander Mode. I mean, yes, they do eat pets and small children, but I made it to adulthood alright.”
Thire raised his head from his knees to look at her. “May I ask a personal question?”
She pursed her lips as she thought it over. “Yes, you may.”
“Are you and Fox a thing?”
“A thing?” She raised her brows in amusement.
“Don’t tease me, I’m distraught.”
“Sorry.” She gave him a gentle smile. “Yeah, we’re a thing.”
“The boys in the office have been betting on it for two months now.”
“And what was your position on the bet?”
He was saved from answering by the chime of his comm. “Yes?”
“Thorn’s condition is stable.” Fox’s voice came over the comm. “I don’t want to make false promises, but I think he’ll recover.”
Thire let out a long shaky breath. “Thank you.” He pressed the comm to his forehead as Fox ended the call, trying to qualm the hope in his chest.
“Come,” Senator Chuchi stood and offered him a hand, “let’s get your armor on. Commander Thorn won’t return to find his officers in shambles.”