Baker’s Dozen

Fandom: Star Wars - The Clone Wars // Medieval Fantasy AU

Pairing: Captain Rex x baker!reader

Content: fluff, first meeting, pastries

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,871

A/N: This is my first time writing for Rex so I’m not sure if I’ve got his characterisation down, especially as this is a medieval AU. Art used of medieval Rex in the header image is by Jake Bartok.

You had been surprised when you first met Captain Rex. The cold, winter sun glinted upon shining plate armour as he walked through the city market, wet mud splashed and squelched under his boots, that marked his silver greaves with specks of brown dirt. At the time, you didn’t know who he was, only that he was part of the King’s Guard due to the blue markings upon his armour, as well as the billowing white cape that blew gently with the wind behind him.

Two young boys had run across his path, chasing each other with twigs, pretending that they were great warriors sparring upon a battle field. You saw how Rex stopped to allow them to pass, the visor of his helmet shifting to watch them play. His shoulders gently shook as you realised the real warrior had found amusement in the innocence of youth.

You shook your head at the scene, surprised by the kind, human reaction Rex displayed. You’d expected a King’s Guard to be more… high strung. You turned back to your bakery stall, letting the warm moment you’d witnessed brighten your mood as you bent down to lift out a fresh batch of bread to replenish your stock. As you raised your head, you noticed the shadow that now loomed there over your stall.

Raising yourself up to greet your customer, your eyes travelled the length of their torso before you saw their face. It was that shiny plate armour: silver thigh guards and a codpiece peeking through under black leather faulds with deep blue trimmings; leather belts and pouches strapped about his waist where the metal of his breastplate began. The said breastplate was stylised to represent the toned flesh that resided underneath. On his right shoulder sat a curved pauldron, shiny metal marked with sapphire blue paint. Too were marked his vambraces and rembraces, in perfect symmetry, aside from the other pauldron which sat on his right shoulder, with leather strapping across his upper torso to keep it in place. The pauldron was rather oddly shaped, 3 sides of it planed at soft angles with each other to fit over the shoulder and too it was painted that dark sapphire blue. Finally, there was the helmet. Much like the rest of his armour, it shone brilliantly; silver metal that was marked with that blue paint around the T-shaped eye hole in his visor. Specifically there were two pointed, somewhat triangular shaped painted above the eye slit. You did not know what they meant, but you had not seen them worn by anyone in the King’s Guard, or even any knight for that matter. He was, you thought, stunning. You hadn’t even seen his face.

And then he removed his helmet. His skin was the same golden brown as your perfectly baked pastries. It was a bit of an odd comparison to make, but with your pastries sitting on the stall between the two of you, it was hard not to make the link. It blended brilliantly with the bright blonde colour of his short, cropped hair, that looked so silky and soft upon his head. His face itself was made of sharp curves and accents, coming together smoothly; he was truly one of the most handsome men you’d ever seen. And his eyes. Oh, his eyes. They were like the cherry on top of the cake. A glimmering amber that met your own gaze and shone with intensity and confidence.

You felt like you had been staring at him longer than you should have. If he noticed, however, he did not bring it up. It was either that or time slowed down, as distracted by his golden appearance as you were, allowing you the precious seconds to take in his presence before he noticed. Whatever the case, time truly caught up with you and sent you plunging headfirst into reality as he spoke.

“Ah, good day.”

His voice was as smooth as butter, even with the slight hesitation at the start. That is, the hesitation, what really surprised you. It was something so small, so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but the nervousness present in his hesitation as he began to speak to you was something you’d never expected from a knight. You’d expected him to be confident, being a man a far higher standing than you. The hesitation and nervousness made you realise in an instant that the King’s Guard before you was too just another human, not something to be feared.

So, in response to his soft spoken, nervous greeting you offered a warm, friendly smile in return. “Good day to you too.”

The short conversation with the knight left you near forgetting your job.

“What can I help you with?”

A deep, considerate rumble emerged from the man as his eyes scanned the stall for a moment, before he offered, with lightly raised brows, “What would you recommend?”

You were somewhat stumped for a moment, considering what a knight, a King’s Guard even, would want from your bakery stall. With unsureity you pointed to the loaves of bread first, “Well, I’ve got many delicious loaves, of varying grains.” You realised as you finished the sentence that the man, with a position such as his would likely have easy access to bread, so you sputtered out quickly before the humiliation hit home, “Or, perhaps you’d fancy one - or some! - of my pastries.” You smiled widely, toothily and leant against the table before you, trying to nonchalantly brush off your embarrassment.

The knight smiled, soft dimples at the corners of his mouth emerged with the movement, you noticed. He dipped his head in approval, the words he spoke gentle, “A pastry sounds great.”

You gave another flick over of the knight with your eyes, as you ponder what sort of pastry he would like. Initially you would have pegged him as a savoury person, but even in the short moments speaking with him, you began to wonder if he favoured sweet treats.

Hesitantly, you pointed to one of the croissants at the front, decorated with white icing and pink raspberry flavoured sprinkles. It’s not something you’d expect a knight to like, or to even wish to be seen eating, but you pointed it out anyway, “This raspberry croissant is one of my favourites, I’d really recommend it.”

His caramel hues flicked towards it, narrowing for a moment before he bobbed his head in approval once more, “I’ll try it, how much?”

Your eyebrows rose, surprised that he did not refuse and go for a savoury pastry or… anything more dignified for his knightly self. So you stumbled out your words, “Oh, that’ll… that’ll be 5 copper pieces.”

He tilted his head, sunlight shifting over his golden features and silver armour, “5 copper?” You nodded in response, moving to take out a paper bag and wrap up the sweet pastry.

“How about 1 silver?”

You did a double take, nearly dropping the pastry in your hands as you turned to give him a look of bewilderment; 1 silver was well over the amount that you were charging. You weren’t the poorest person in the city, but you were far from the richest. 1 silver would’ve certainly make things a little less tight for you. But, you were honourable, you wouldn’t take that money, there was no reason for him to overpay you that much.

“No, that’s way too much.”

The knight looked a little stumped, eyes flicking between you and the pastry you were packing away for him. Realisation hit you.

Putting a hand on your hip, a smile teased your lips, as you asked the man, “You only brought silver coins, didn’t you?”

He nodded quickly, awkwardly, before blurting out, “Things tend to cost more around the palace.”

You chuckled softly, ignoring the twist in your stomach that made you falter in awe that you were truly speaking to a man who knew the king personally. Thus, with a slight more squeak to your voice than usual, you replied, “I can see that. Unfortunately I don’t have enough copper to make up the difference so…-“

“Just take the silver, it’s my own mistake.”

You shook your head at him, “No, no, I have something else in mind.”

He paused, lips slightly parted and eyes wide, looking at you to save this awkward situation.

You took out your notebook, resting it against the counter as you picked up your writing charcoal and scribbled down the mathematics. “So, 5 copper for the pastry. If you come back for… hmm… 19 more days, to get another pastry, then you get your money’s worth.”

You smiled up to him, watching his features contort from worry to amusement. He grinned at you, dimples emerging and the corner’s of his eyes crinkling, “Very smart, Miss...” He trailed off, before shaking his head lightly and offering you a sheepish smile, “Sorry, what’s your name? It was impolite of me not to ask sooner.”

You shrugged lightly, handing the pastry all wrapped up over to him, noticing how your fingers gently brushed with his, then telling him your name with a soft tone to your voice. You then looked to your notebook for a second, whilst the knight slowly unwraps the pastry then and there, not bothering to move away from your stall. So you lightly cleared your throat, asking “Excuse me, but what’s *your* name? Just so I can keep track of how many pastries I owe you!”

He stops unwrapping the pastry, lifting his gaze so it met yours, caramel eyes sparking with mirth, “The name’s Rex, Captain Rex.”

This man was really good at surprising you, which thus caused you to blurt out, “You’re *the* Captain Rex? The Captain of the King’s Guard?”

He so humbly nodded, after lifting the pastry to his lips and taking a bite. After a moment, he offered another smile, kind-hearted and with a twinkle of pride. “Yes, I am. And, I must say,” he continued, “I am looking forward to returning tomorrow and the day after, if your goods are able to live up to this one.”

Your cheeks heated softly at his words, as you called back in return, “I am looking forward to it too!”

Rex held up to his word, returning the next day, with you giving him a new pastry to try. The day after, he returned again. And again. Soon, those days that were promised for him to return ended. But where it ended, something new sprouted and replaced it. Something that drew you even closer to Captain Rex of the King’s Guard.

After so much time, however, you never forgot that first meeting. If not for his surprising attitude and demeanour from under that helm… well, then you would not find yourself waking up for a long day as the royal baker, preparing delicious goods for a whole court. And in turn, you would not find yourself being dragged back into the warmth of your bed by two muscular, golden toned arms, Rex’s nose then nuzzling into your neck and his pale blonde hair, as short as it was, tickling your cheek, before you felt soft, loving kisses pepper your skin.

Training For Failure

A/N: I just needed a pep talk from Echo today. (Also, I love soft!Echo fics with all my heart, but I think sometimes people forget that he used to be a badass ARC Trooper and still very much has that vibe going on when he's not playing Mom to Omega 😂)

Warnings: Tough Love from Echo. Reader is feeling bad about themselves.

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"Come on, keep up!" Echo called out, glancing over his shoulder to see you jogging several paces behind him.

You gave him a thumbs up and a grin to hide the fact that you were dying inside. Or at least that's what it felt like. Were lungs supposed to hurt like this? With every strained inhale, the chilly morning air burned it's way through your chest.

Echo jogged in place, watching as you ran over to him, breathing heavily. He clapped you on the shoulder. "You're doing good so far!" He encouraged. "Here, drink." He tossed you a water bottle giving you a little grin. "Just around this bend and we'll be done our warm-up."

You choked on the water, spilling a mouth full down the front of your shirt.

"Wait, this is just a warm-up?" You panted in disbelief.

Echo chuckled, "Yeah, like I told you yesterday. We jog to the training gym, go a few rounds, and then walk back."

You inhaled and exhaled slowly, resting your hands on your knees to help soothe your screaming lungs.

"You okay?" Echo put a hand on your back, looking at you, brows upturned with concern.

Nodding, you gave him a thumbs up. " I'm good!" You gave him a grin and stood up quickly. A sudden wave of dizziness hit you out of nowhere and you stumbled to the side. Echo grabbed your upper arm, keeping you upright.

"Whoa! Hey, take it easy now. Hands on top of your head."

"What, are you arresting me or something?" you jokingly scoffed.

Echo rolled his eyes. "No. It helps the blood circulate better. Helps you catch your breath."

Nodding slowly to avoid worsening your lightheadedness, you obediently rested your palms on top of your sweaty hair. As weird as it sounded, it did help. Slowly the ache in your lungs began to let up, your breaths came more easily and the dizziness abated.

Kriff, you were out of shape. A heavy feeling of shame settled in your core, replacing the sharp sting of laboured breathing.

"Sorry for slowing you down," you mumbled, looking down at your feet. What had you been thinking when you asked Echo to help you train? You were so not going to survive this. "Maybe you'd get a better work-out on your own without me. I'd just kriff it up anyway."

Echo stiffened, "No. Stop." You looked up at him in confusion. His eyes were sharp and serious as though they could see straight through you. It was the same look he had on the battlefield. The look of a leader.

"Look at me." He gripped your shoulders between his flesh hand and scomp link.

"I am." You avoided eye contact.

"No," he moved the tip of his scomp arm beneath your chin, bringing your eyes up to meet his.

"Listen, I don't want to hear that kind of talk." He said firmly. "The only way to get good is to keep going."

You swallowed and looked away feeling a little intimidated and embarrassed. Echo pulled you back so that you met his eyes once more.

"I can guarantee that if you keep thinking you'll fail, then you will fail. I know it's hard and sometimes it hurts but you have to stick with it."

"I can't...." you whispered feeling defeated. Tears clouded your vision, threatening to fall.

"You can." Echo reprimanded. "You can and you will. You're strong." He paused, thinking for a moment, and sighed.

"It does help though, when you have a partner - someone who can motivate you and push you to your limits."

He paused again, breaking eye contact for a fraction of a second. "My brother Fives was that person for me."

He met your eyes again.

"Our squad - Domino Squad - almost didn't make it though training. We failed every simulation. We couldn't work as a team and even the instructors said we'd never make it; that we were failures. I started to believe them because what they wanted from us seemed impossible. I wanted to give up. But Fives wouldn't let me. Fives believed in us - he believed in me. 'We will not train for failure' he told us. He pushed us hard, dragging us all out of our bunks to practice again and again and again. Until finally we made it. Fives was right. We don't train for failure. We train to better ourselves and therefore to better our brothers - our squad."

"I didn't know that," you said softly, wiping your eyes, "I guess I could use a friend like that." Echo nodded.

"Fives was that person for me. I will be that person for you. I will not allow you to fail. Yes, you'll make mistakes, you'll fall on your ass more times that you can count but that's not failure. You only fail if you give up. Failure is a choice."

Echo's voice radiated confidence. You could almost feel it invading your own skin and bleeding into your bones. No wonder they made him an ARC Trooper. He was stern when he needed to be, confident in his abilities, and adaptable to whatever situation was thrown at Clone Force 99.

In addition to all that, Echo was compassionate. He truly cared for his teammates and for that you were glad - for that and everything else, you loved him.

"So what do you say we finish off this work-out?"

You nodded your head, giving him a small smile. "Sir, yes sir!"

Echo grinned, squeezing your shoulder. "Good. Then wipe your face and follow me."

You took a deep breath and began to run, keeping pace with Echo. "And I know a great smoothie place we can hit afterwards."

"Sounds like a plan."

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302 notes View Post

latinachiquita

2 years ago

If echo dies we riot