Chapter Text
EXTERIOR - NIGHT - CORUSCANT’S USCRU ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT
Freena and Howzer walked throughout the capital city’s Uscru district.
They were more than enjoying each other’s company, barely registering the luxury of the shopping district and the busyness of the speeder traffic above. It was all background and soundscape to the main event: the intelligent (and often humorous) dialogue between these two near-complete strangers.
The conversation flowed so easily between them. Howzer relished the opportunity to learn what civilians in the capital city thought about the war, and Freena was more than ready to tell him. He fascinated her with stories of the Syndullas and remarkably added that she reminded him of Elani Syndulla. Freena, a simple human, knew she didn’t have the body or exotic beauty of a Twi’lek woman. He just casually compared her personality to one of the galaxy’s most famous female freedom fighters. It might have been the most phenomenal thing anyone had ever said to her.
When he began to ask about her personal life, she made sure she kept the topic to her job. She was amused by Howzer’s severe interest in the middle management issues of the housing application process. For most people, the Office of Residential Authority was a conversation killer. For Howzer, it was a whole fascinating institutional world he never knew. He seemed intrigued by the slew of problems, and he wanted to theorize and strategize solutions.
As Howzer was explaining the different protocols of the GAR on Ryloth, Freena quietly admitted to herself that she missed a few points he was making because she would get lost in his masculine beauty. His face, his hair, his chiseled jawline. His eyelashes. Why do men have the longest eyelashes?
Almost three hours had vanished with their walking and talking. They now found themselves coming up on an overview walkway. They were closer to the fancy hotel where Deb and Freena were supposed to spend their “girls only weekend.”
Suddenly, they came upon a young couple arguing, which alerted Howzer’s reflexes to snap into readiness should anything turn violent immediately. Within moments, it turned brazenly sensual and obscene. The fiery couple quickly made up and began lopping at each other with filthy kisses and grabs at each other. Freena looked away and was blushing. If the city’s lights weren’t so bright and colorful, she would be sure that Captain Howzer was also blushing, which was adorable.
He let out an awkward laugh as he spoke, “See…and you said things never work out.”
“I what?”
Freena was fixated on the way the couple engaged without a care. She had now witnessed more sexual encounters throughout this one night than she and her ex had shared in their last few years together.
Howzer was still trying to be a gentleman and ignored them. “They seemed to have worked thin— Oh wow, she’s going…yup…Okay, let’s walk over there to the platform.”
Both Howzer and Freena were mildly embarrassed, laughing at themselves and the awkwardness. When their laughs faded into the sounds of the city, they walked silently to the overlook platform’s railing while stealing glances at each other, bashfully smiling at each other. He was the brave one who spoke first,
“What you said earlier at 79s, about things not working out…,”
He looked down as he kicked the broken glass out of the way so she could step closer to the railing and enjoy the view. Howzer looked back up at Freena; his honey amber eyes were focused but gentle. He offered his right hand for her to balance and slipped his other behind to guide the small of her back as she stepped closer to the railing,
“Careful there’s some glass I couldn’t get.”
“Thank you, Captain,” she jumped at the trace of his touch. If she stumbled, it wasn’t going to be the fault of some scattered pieces of glass on the ground.
“I’m sorry if I’m prying, but...did something, with someone...not work out? When you said that earlier, it seemed like you were speaking from experience,” his tone was now softer, as though he was speaking to a wounded bird.
“Oh that,” she knew she’d asked for it with her negative comment earlier in the evening.
She really didn’t want to talk about this right now. Freena was impressed by his intuitiveness, and it was almost as impressive as, well, him. She didn’t want to hide her heartbreaking tale of being dumped before her wedding day , but it also wasn’t going to ruin her night and define her. Not today. She’ll be honest with him but guarded should the same response that everyone always gives play out.
“Yes, I was with a man for a long time.”
“At least a year?” Howzer said seriously and naively at the same time.
“Um...no. Nine years, and um...we weren’t married, but I thought we were happy. Married or not, couples have problems. Sorry, I got sidetracked.”
She sighed to get herself through the whole script of basic bullet points,
“We decided, well oddly enough, he decided that it was finally time we get married. I had always wanted that deep down, but I don’t know...anyway...he called it off the night before. So. That is what happened. That is why I am the one who thinks things don't work out or there is no such thing as 'lasting love.' I’m still a bit hurt from it all, I guess.”
Howzer responded quickly without hesitation,
“You’re telling me that a man you loved and were devoted to for nine years of your life finally asked you to marry him...and then he called it off the night before ?”
Freena had been here before. The pity and shock on people’s faces. The next thing that happens is the series of questions people always have for her to explain and clarify. Questions she never really got answers to, so why would she know why he did what he did? Or worse, they have nothing to say except how sorry they are, and they hope she will get through it. She is still getting through it.
But it seems to have no end, this whole “getting through it” nightmare she’d been living in.
She couldn’t resist Howzer’s intense expression and let herself continue,
“He didn’t just call off the wedding. He ended everything the night before. He said he hadn’t been in love with me for years, was hoping being married would help. That he had been having affairs with other women, how many I’ll never know, and now he just wanted to give ‘ being by himself’ a try?
Howzer’s face twisted up in a fury. The most beautiful anger Freena had ever seen, she thought she imagined it.
“ Try being by himself... iba...os’ik. Qa an boc’ara”
“Excuse me?” Freena had no idea what he was saying.
“Os’ik means shit, and I called him an idiot in Twi’leki. What a shit. I- I can’t understand this. It’s infuriating. You?! You’re perfectly delightful. I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve spent with you.”
“Well, we just met, Captain.”
“No, from the moment we first spoke, I could tell you were special.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that….”
“I do. I might not get the chance again,” Freena registered the saddest truth of what he just stated as he continued, “You’re funny, attractive, caring, intelligent, very classy, incredible legs with a woman’s full figure to hold—
“I wouldn’t ever use half of those words to describe myself. Wait— What was that last part?”
“I would never abandon a woman like you, and he did this in such a dishonorable way. Especially after you had been so loyal for nine years? Pardon me for saying so, but that man you loved, I’m sorry he’s an asshole, a complete and utter loser by my standards.”
“Oh, um...okay, wow. You’re quite intense, Captain Howzer.”
“I feel very strongly about this, Freena. When something is wrong, I have to speak up.”
Freena was certainly not going to stop him from speaking up now. Howzer was gripping his helmet at his side with his left hand. His frustration boiled over as he tapped the helmet against his thigh plate repeatedly in thought. His right hand was grabbing the railing to brace his anger. He looked out over the city and up to the stars, shaking his head. She couldn’t see his right hand through the glove, but she could assume they were white-knuckled and punishing that poor innocent railing.
“Whether it’s jerk di’kuts here in the capital or some of these Twi’lek men on Ryloth, when I hear stories of how some nat-born men treat their women…,”
He then turned to her,
“I just want to say to them…,” he was now holding out his helmet, expressively gripping it in his left hand as he practically shouted to the entire city,
“MEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU COME INTO A WOMAN’S LIFE AND HOPE SHE FALLS IN LOVE WITH YOU AND YOU’VE SUCCEEDED . BUT THEN , YOU START LOOKING AROUND YOU AND YOU CHOOSE TO BE UNFAITHFUL? YOU’RE DELIBERATELY HURTING THE VERY WOMAN YOU ONCE LONGED FOR AND WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ? IT’S WRONG AND YOU ALL KNOW IT! AS A CLONE, NO, AS A MAN, I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT ANY LONGER!”
Howzer’s speech took Freena’s breath away. She didn’t know if she should applaud, but it really felt like she should. When Captain Howzer had a conviction, he certainly knew how to make it known. Whatever her response should have been, she was now standing before him, crying.
“Oh no! I didn’t want to make you cry,” he quickly clipped his helmet to his belt and stepped so wonderfully closer to Freena.
“Mesh'la , no.”
“Huh?” Freena was snapped out of her sobs.
“It means beautiful. There, there. I’ve seen so many women crying, please not you. Not this face.”
Freena heard his words and studied the beautiful scar on his beautiful face. What he’s seen, been through, fought through, it filled her with a courage she hadn’t felt in months, years maybe. She got her words together with each comfort of his gloved touch, tenderly soothing her shoulders and wiping her tears.
“Captain Howzer… I’m…crying…because I’m so grateful. For what you’ve just said.”
“Grateful?”
“Yes!” She was now softly choking laughs, smiling wide and gleeful through wiping her tears. Captain Howzer’s eyes widened with curiosity and adoration. He even let a small smile escape.
“I don’t understand.”
Freena forgot that he was wearing armor, but thank goodness he was. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed her embrace through his cuirass.
“What you just said, stars alive, shouted, to the whole damn city. In the last eight months, that is all I have wanted to hear someone say when they find out what happened.”
Freena pulled back and watched as her hands begged her not to pull away from him. She had to wipe her tears and fix her makeup, though. Her nose was a little runny, now too. She prayed to every deity in the galaxy that she had a tissue or something in her purse.
“Freena? What do people usually say when they hear what happened?”
Howzer was getting that intense, protective look in his dark, golden eyes again as he handed her his handkerchief that he pulled from a small compartment in his belt. She wiped her runny nose all over the side with the Republic logo and then attempted to fix her makeup with the other side.
He was so patiently waiting for her to respond. She was starting to get very comfortable with the expressions of his peculiarly handsome face.
“That I should’ve known better. That if he hadn’t married me after so long, why even bother. That I stayed because I was scared to be alone. Was I sure I didn’t know he had cheated? Or I should have left him years ago when what I thought was a one-time mistake happened. But it turned out it was a lot more than one time. He just got smarter and I got stupider, I guess.”
“Please don’t say that about yourself. Ever.”
He took her hands in his and brought them to his chest.
“ A woman like you …Maker of Men! What I would give to be able to come home and wake up every day with a woman like you, Freena. You could bicker at me to take out the garbage, I would tell you to stop taking so long getting ready. I would adore your sweet face and soft skin every day. Those Kaminoans could have cloned thousands just like you for my brothers, but you, you Freena, would be the one for me.”
He wasn’t shy. He’s just too wonderful, and he doesn’t know what to do with any of it.
“Captain?” She didn’t wait for a response.
She was practically trembling but knew she had to say the following few words quickly,
“Kiss me, Howzer.”
He didn’t pull away. He stayed right where he was, holding ground. The Captain had to be honest with her right now.
“Freena, mesh’la, I can’t have any of those things with you. You know that, right?” It looked like his eyes were watering.
“You have now . You have right now with me.” Freena was looking up at him, and her trembling hands were soon happy to be back on his cuirass and dying to feel him underneath his armor.
He brushed her hair away. His eyes fixed on hers. He then cupped his gloved hand to her face and kissed her gently. It was sweet and entirely maddening. She was bursting within, longing for him to do so much more.
He pulled back to give her the keldabe kiss and touched his forehead to hers as he begged out his next words, “Freena, can...can I please touch your hips? They’ve been driving me crazy all night.”
Her eyes widened with surprise hearing his polite and lusting request, “Yes, Howzer, do it.”
Then he timidly leaned in for the next kiss as he held his view of her for a moment. It was the point of no return now. His perfect lips guided hers open to release a fire that cleansed the haunted, cold landscape of her womanhood. Freena felt the shell within had cracked open, revealing the young woman she once was years ago. The Freena that had once felt beautiful, desirable, happy, and hell, even powerful.
That Freena was young, thinner, and clueless. Good riddance. Freena now, kissing Captain Howzer, she had the mind, experience, and full figure of a woman to hold.
Two shy wallflowers they were, but their kisses were not. Passionate breaths were competing to keep up with the wet and wild dance of their lips and tongues, sharing lust and adoration.
Howzer’s hands were taking their time exploring every inch of her sides. He started at her ribcage somewhere under the soft flesh around her upper torso. The stiff, unbendable bones underneath were barely holding her heart and lungs in her body when Howzer settled on, strongly squeezing every part of her waist. They kissed like lovers from another time who had been searching through the epics and ages and were now finally reunited.
His tongue did everything she wanted it to, and she couldn’t help but wrap her lips around it. He curled a grin when she did. Her lips against his were delicate and soft, and he couldn’t help but nibble them. She sighed each time he did.
Her body, her resurrected body, rejoiced as he finally got to his requested destination and dug his hands into her soft rumps of Freena's thick begging hips. She was nervous he’d tear her poor excuse for a skirt Deb had chosen for her.
His kisses grew with intensity to match his two massaging grips on either side of her. Eagerly, he moved to trace her stomach, feeling how soft and full it was. This move and the breathy moan he let out sent Freena the message that her “let herself go” body was very much the exact type that Captain Howzer most desired.
He moved his hands to his mouth to tear off his glove again with his teeth so he could feel her skin touch his finally. The simple, innocent action from earlier in the evening at 79’s now drove her wild. Howzer’s teeth bit into the fabric, and his hand pulled out of the glove.
She only realized then they were still standing on the platform!
Freena gently kissed his jaw all along his neck and back towards his earlobe. He was moaning and leaning into it, his mouth quivering, “Free- Freena?” When he spoke, it almost snapped her out of the ecstasy. She softened her kisses and landed a final one on his lips.
“Wha?” She was barely on the planet at this point.
“It doesn’t bother you?” Howzer was worried, anticipating her response.
“What?! Wha- what would bother me, Howzer?”
“My scar?”
Freena was floored. She cupped his face as she looked up at this magnificent human being who had just awoken a wing of her soul long abandoned. What in the galaxy had happened to this man that he thought his scar would make him even slightly bothersome?
“Captain…I think it’s the most beautiful part of you .”