Chapter Text
If someone told her that being a commando would mean a month of protection detail for a wealthy officials family from Naboo, she would have signed up a long time ago. The team stands in front of one Councilman Terth Bimello and his family. The two youngest boys, Chril and Arlo if Flora remembers correctly from the file, stare at the group of fully armored men in awe with their jaws dropped, clutching to their mothers skirts. They look so out of place, all scuffed and dirty amongst the luxury in the home.
The girl, Terra, stands next to her father with her hands clasped in front of her. She seems deceptively nervous. "Father, is this really necessary? They will just draw more attention to us. Look at them! Five men armed to the teeth and then some. How are we supposed to go about our day with them hovering?" She asks.
Tech steps forward and removes his helmet. "We will do everything we can to remain in the background so that you can continue on with your daily lives, your safety takes priority. The threats on your life were not taken lightly by Senator Amidala." Ever the diplomat.
"Sargent?" The woman, Vasha, turns to Hunter with a rather unimpressed look on her face. "The weapons and armor? Are they really nessecary?" She places her hands on her daughters shoulders. "What if you wore clothes that match the staffs? It would help you blend in a little easier?" Flora tries to imagine her team in Naboo clothes. She tries to imagine herself in them and she just can't. Too elegant, too flowy.
Hunter takes off his helmet and the two boys gasp as they look at his tattoo. The woman simply purses her lips. "Whatever you decide, ma'am. You're in charge."
"Do the rest of you have tattoos?" The youngest boy asks, Arlo.
Flora smiles under her bucket. "Crosshair has one over his eye, Reaper has a lot but none on the face. Not yet at least." Tech replies to the curious boy.
"Please remove your helmets, you won't be needing them anymore." Vasha says and motions to the other three to take off their helms. Reaper waits until Wrecker and Crosshair reach up to remove theirs before she moves. She takes a deep breath and pulls it off and tucks it under her arm. Vasha looks each of them over before focusing on her, a small smile on her lips, she tucks a long piece of brown hair behind her ear. "You don't see many woman in your position. It's nice to see."
Flora smiles at her. "It's nice to be of service, ma'am."
Arlo breaks apart from his family to stand in front of Wrecker. "Why are you so tall?" He asks wide eyed.
Wrecker stares at the child with a nervous smile on his face. "I was just made that way." He shrugs as he tells the child.
The middle boy steps up. "Are you all clones? You don't look like clones." This kid is already asking clone questions? This is going to be a long month.
The woman steps forward, "You can ask them questions later, your father will be leaving soon. If you will please excuse us." The woman calls to the children and they follow her out of the study.
The councilman turns towards them. "I must thank Senator Amidala for sending you all out so quickly. I will have staff set up a few guest rooms for you. And, I apologize for the children. They can be a bit of a handful. Arlo is curious, always has been. Chril and Terra are cautious. I guess they have to be. I still feel they are far too young to be so worried." He sighs, "But in this day and age it's better to be cautious than to be dead." He walks towards them. "I will ensure a proper wardrobe is set up for all of you, just to put my wife and Terra at ease. I will check in with you often, Sargent." He lays a hand on Hunters pauldron.
"Of course, sir. Your family is safe with us." Hunter nods as the man walks past them and out of the room.
"Someone will be here in a few minutes to show you around. Thank you again." The man walks to his family.
They watch him walk towards his family.
Flora turns to the others. "At least the kids are cute." She breaks the strange, awkward silence.
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Tech can tell something isn't quite right with Reaper as they walk through the large estate, her eyes are flitting all over the place as if she's trying to take in everything at once. She keeps shifting her helmet from hand to hand and looks just generally uneasy. She has since they landed. "Are you alright?" He asks her.
"Why is everything so extravagant? It's beautiful but none of it really serves a purpose. And I can't imagine the clothes they are going to put us in. And if something does happen, this estate is huge. The five of us can't cover that much ground if it's needed." She seems to be analyzing everything.
"Nothing will happen, assignments like these are just a long vacation. They send us on them so we can decompress. It'll be fine." He grabs her free hand. He wants to kiss her but he knows it's not the right time for that. He wants to tell her that she will look beautiful in the extravagant clothes, she would look beautiful in anything. Or nothing. He shakes that thought from his head quickly.
They follow the servant through the halls towards their rooms. Reaper walks near the woman who is just chatting away. She occasionally laughs or nods her head but he can tell that her head is somewhere else. He has never realized how much her armor masks her frame. The servant woman wears the usual draped dress. She is soft curves and gauzy silhouettes. Reaper is hard plastoid lines and dark grey bulk. It's interesting to see the two side by side, really being able to compare the two. They also look to be about the same age, Reaper may be a little younger but just barely.
"Sargent, this is your room." The cheery young woman waves Hunter into a room all to himself. Hunter looks impressed and a little shocked. "I have two rooms for the rest of you. I wasn't told you had a woman with you so I will have to get a room ready for you, ma'am." The woman turns to Reaper.
"Oh, there's no need for that." Reaper tries to reply.
"Yeah, she'll bunk with one of us!" Wrecker exclaims enthusiastically while throwing an arm around her.
The servant looks the two over. "If you're sure." Tech realizes she's smarter than she appears on the surface. Reaper gives her a smile. "I'll get you one of my dresses to change into. All that armor must be so uncomfortable. I think I have a darker one that will looks great with your hair color!"
Reaper doesn't even have time to object before the woman bounds off. Crosshair nudges her with his elbow. "Looks like you have a new best friend."
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The dress is gorgeous. A deep burgundy color with gold flowers near the hem and on the sleeves. It's simple, it gathers in the waist and the shoulders are open much like the dress that the woman is wearing currently. "I've never really had a reason to wear it. You can keep it, it suits you much more than it suits me." The woman says. "My name is Ciba if you need anything." She leaves Flora standing in the middle of the room clutching the beautiful fabric to her chest. She runs a finger over the gold flowers, smiling.
"Mother!" It bloomed! Come on!" She pulls at her mothers hand. The flower she had been watching for the past three days had finally opened up.
"My apologies Maud, she's been watching a Heliotropium cordiformis grow over the last few weeks. I finally got one to grow. I must go." Her mother says to the woman with a kind smile on her face as she waves. Flora pulls her by the sleeve through the village excitedly. Her mother chuckles at the young girls excitement.
"It's so pretty and shiny! I can't believe it bloomed!" Flora pushes through the garden gate and drops to her knees, her long skirt already covered in dirt. What's a little more? Her large eyes shine with excitement as she examines the gold flower. A bright yellow flower with metallic gold veining growing through the petals. It shines brightly in the sun.
"Now do you see why it's named after the sun?" Her mother runs a hand through her daughters unruly hair.
The girl nods in awe. "What will we do with it?" She asks, looking up at the woman.
"It's needed for next weeks festival ritual. You will be in charge of growing the next plant. This lunar eclipse only happens once every twenty five years. Every family is responsible for a different plant. We are healers so we grow the Heliotropium. It will be used in the tea that The Elders drink." Her mother explains.
"Will we get to see The Elders? What do they look like?" The girl's colorful eyes are full of curiosity, and wonder.
"Your father will. He will serve the tea. We will be preparing for the celebration." The woman moves to another plant in the garden, using her magic to heal some of the damage done by the ash rabbits.
"Why don't the bunnies eat that flower?" The girl asks, getting up from the ground.
"I warded it. We can't have them snacking on this one. It's special. Come on, let's get you inside. It's almost time for dinner." The woman steers the girl into the house.
"Speck, are you in here?" Wrecker bursts through the door as she slides the dress over her head.
"Can I help you?!" She shrieks as she tries to untangle the slippery fabric from around her face and arms. It's no use, she must have missed an arm hole or something. She's stuck with her arms in the airand most of her torso on display for all to see. She prays to whatever gods are above and below that the rest of the team isn't behind him getting a full view of her misfortune in the moment.
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He wasn't expecting to see her standing her there trying to pull the dress on. He thought he would find her dressed and fine. Something must have distracted her. She shrieks at him but he doesn't catch what she says. He's too busy staring at the art that adorns her body. Flowers and Insects and plants of all shapes and sizes are spread all across her skin, meticulously placed. "If you are going to keep staring can you at least close the door behind you?!" She shrieks frantically, trying to pull the fabric away from her face, she seems to be stuck.
He swallows nervously as he moves further into the room and closes the door behind him. He walks the few steps and closes the distance between them. He wants to touch her so bad, run his fingers over each leaf and thorn. Kiss her skin and see truly how warm and delicate it is. His hands hover over her hips, the black skin tight shorts she wears cuts over her hip bones. He thinks about how she needs to eat more, she's so skinny. He hesitates. What if he's too rough? Her breathing seems to even out as she stands with her hands above her head, she had managed to find a way to get her head untangled from the beautiful fabric. "Can I touch you?" He asks.
She nods nervously, pulling the dress off of herself trying to reposition it to slip it on again. When his fingertips make contact with the soft skin of her sides she shivers. It's heavenly, her skin under his fingertips. She watches him as he traces a beautiful pink flower that sits right above her right hip bone. It must have hurt.
She abandons trying to put the dress on, letting it slip to the floor, her attention now solely focused on him. It's a strange sensation, having someone watch your every move, incredibly intimate.
Her hands drifts to his face, lightly running her fingers over the scarring. Caressing it, he realizes. She takes a step closer to him, pressing herself against him. His hands return to her hips as she stands on her toes. "Can I kiss you?" She asks, breathlessly.
For once in his life he's speechless. He nods and tries to pull her even closer as their lips touch. Her hands are holding his face, it's perfect. Slow and sweet and warm. She's so warm, so perfect. When they break apart he's breathless. This woman knocked the breath from his lungs. How does something like that even happen?
She bends and picks up the dress from the ground. "Can you help me with this?" She asks sheepishly.
He laughs. "Sure, Speck."
She slips it over her head and he helps her guide it down over chest and waist. It seems to fall perfectly on her frame. She looks like one of the goddesses in the ancient paintings that Tech has talked about. She just needs a crown of gold leaves.
She runs her hands over the material before smiling her crooked grin up at him. The door suddenly bursts open revealing Tech typing away on his vambrace. "Hey guys, Hunter needs us to-" He starts
She throws her hands up in the air and groans. "Do any of you know how to knock?!"