Work Text:
The door to her rooms opened. The aide in the hall hadn’t announced anyone. Thank the Force. That meant just Tay. The end of her work day, finally.
She’d finished her last actual appointment hours ago, but she had kept receiving impromptu holograms and datapad messages until she had finally forced herself to get off the holonet a few minutes before Tay’s arrival.
Tay poked his head into her office and sighed exasperatedly at the sight of her surrounded by her numerous datapads.
“You know, you can’t run a rebellion if you never rest, Mon.” He stepped into the doorway.
“I was just about to go to bed. Come here,” she said quietly, getting out of her chair to invade his space.
She threw her arms around his neck and rested her forehead on his.
“Exhausted?” He asked, eyebrows cocked, amused.
She simply nodded, and in response he pulled back to kiss her brow. She pulled herself to him and buried her face in his shoulder, breathing deeply. He held her for a moment, until she released him and sauntered to the fresher to get ready for bed.
Tay, well-adjusted to the quirks of living with a stateswoman, knew that despite the exhaustion, she was likely going to spend an hour or so reading before bed. And so was he.
Out of habit, he fetched both of their reading glasses before settling into bed with his latest holonovel on his datapad.
The story was about a man roaming Coruscant, trying to solve a murder. In the last chapter, Inspector Var Tane had visited a shoddy bar on the lower levels to question suspects and met a beautiful Twi’lek woman named Daesha.
Tay was feeling more invested in the romantic subplot than the murder mystery lately— it probably had something to do with the woman who was climbing into bed next to him.
He handed Mon her reading glasses and datapad from their nightstand. She kissed his cheek, put on her glasses, grabbed her datapad, and settled her head on his shoulder. He turned his head to kiss her hair, then went back to scanning the page on his own datapad.
Mon navigated her datapad until she found her own holonovel. Immediately after she had opened the holonovel, there was a knock at the apartment door.
“Should I get it?” Mon asked.
“No, you need to get some rest so we can keep this rebellion going. You stay in bed. I’ll go,” he said, rising and striding to the door. He pressed the button to open it.
The door slid open to reveal Leida, who Mon assumed must have left something behind after she’d come across the hallway for lunch. Tay stood at the doorway, looking at Leida expectantly.
“Hi Dad. Do you two have some credits? Leia and I are thinking of going up to the market for a snack…” Leida trailed off.
Tay fished his credit chip out of his pocket and handed it to her.
“Bring that back in the morning. Goodnight, sweetheart.” He ruffled her hair.
“Goodnight,” Leida said, bounding across the hall to fetch Leia.
The door slid shut, and Tay turned around to face Mon, who was smiling, nose in her data pad. She looked up at Tay as he padded across the room, still smiling, her eyes shining.
“I’m still getting used to that,” she remarked, pensive. “You’re so good with her already.”
Tay smiled. “I try,” he said, through quiet laughter.
He climbed back into bed next to her, and she resettled her head on his shoulder. Tay slipped an arm around her waist, and she shifted onto his chest, closing her eyes. He noticed she had taken off her reading glasses.
“Not reading tonight, darling?” He asked, leaning his head on hers.
“No,” she began, “The holonovel I’m reading gets the Clone Wars political scene all wrong. The Grand Vizier is much more of an ass in real life.”
Tay chuckled, and Mon hummed softly, feeling the vibrations of his laughter. He leaned over to press a chaste kiss to her already smiling lips, then turned out their bedside lamp. She snuggled into his side.
“Goodnight, my love,” he said, absentmindedly stroking her hair before they drifted off together.