Chapter Text
The mission was over. The information they had found on Mavel’s datacard had been sent to the rebellion after only a few hours, and since Mavel was still detained by the police when morning came he hadn’t been able to put the spaceport under lockdown. A few trusted friends of Elegas had still gone there to make sure that the Silver Comet was safe to board. As they had found nothing suspicious or out of place, Zeb and Kallus had decided it was time for them to return to Yavin.
It had been a relief when they finally had jumped into lightspeed high above Eleander, knowing that they were finally returning home and that everything was alright.
As a matter of fact, things were a little bit more than just alright.
Zeb stood with his suitcase in hand, scratching behind his head. Ahead of him lay the corridor with their separate rooms, with both of their doors open and inviting.
Zeb glanced over at Kallus. “Do we…?” Zeb asked.
Kallus found it endlessly charming that Zeb didn’t want to presume anything and pulled him inside the room that had been his but was now theirs.
They found various ways to keep themselves busy inside the room for the remainder of the journey.
After two days of travel, the Silver Comet found herself in her usual slot in the western hangar on Yavin, and Zeb and Kallus were immediately whisked away for debriefing. It was only them and General Dodonna attending, but Kallus still appreciated the fact that they met inside one of the usual meeting rooms.
Dodonna informed them that Intelligence had begun to go through the information on the datacard and had even been able to act on it already; they had interceded a ship just before it had been supposed to drop off a new shipment of enslaved beings at one of the Kessel mines. The beings had been safely returned home and the ship with all of its equipment had been taken for the rebellion. Mavel had, unfortunately, been released by the police by now, but Dodonna promised that the information incriminating him as a slaver would soon find its way into the right hands that would make his career as a chancellor crumble.
Kallus looked to Dodonna. “I would like to keep working on this, if possible,”
His superior nodded. “Yes, we could definitely use your talents on this. But, in the morning, alright?” A small smile graced his lips. “It’s late and I’m sure the both of you could use some rest after this… unconventional mission. I’m aware it must have been challenging.”
Zeb snorted and waved a hand in front of him as if waving away his concern. “No worries, it had its perks.”
Dodonna gave him a confused look, and Kallus had to bite the inside of his cheek to not let out a snicker. He was rather sure what perks Zeb spoke of as he had been quite vocal about certain aspects of their mission during their journey back.
They were dismissed after that and headed outside of the building. The sun had almost set and their shadows crawled toward the crossroad ahead of them. One path would take them to the cantina, another one to the tapcafe, and the last one would guide them to their respective homes.
Kallus mulled the options over in his head, unsure which one he believed was their current path.
Before he was able to decide, a familiar voice greeted them from behind.
“I heard you would be returning today,” Hera said as she stepped up to them wearing a warm smile. “Welcome back. How did the mission go?”
“We got the necessary information.” Kallus returned her smile. “Intel is working on pulling apart the chancellor’s whole network.”
“As well as the man’s life,” Zeb grinned next to him.
Hera laughed. “I’m glad.” She patted Zeb jovially on the shoulder. “Would both of you like some dinner on the Ghost? The rest of us already ate but we could heat some up if you’d like?”
Zeb glanced over at Kallus who nodded. “Sounds great,” Zeb said, and they both fell into steps alongside Hera.
Hera updated them on what the crew had been up to in their absence, and as they walked, Zeb and Kallus’ hands would sometimes brush against each other. Their eyes would meet, but as they hadn’t really discussed how to announce them they were happy to just share small, secret smiles between them for now.
They had been a bit busy with other aspects of their new relationship to properly address things during their journey back. But just because things hadn’t been labeled yet didn’t make Kallus any less sure about Zeb, and he was confident in how Zeb felt about him. Still, he believed they might want to keep things under wrap until they had been able to talk things through thoroughly so they would be able to handle the reactions that were sure to come.
Onboard the Ghost they heated up the day’s leftovers and Zeb happily sighed and proclaimed that there was nothing better than a home-cooked meal. Kallus could only agree, the Aurora’s food might have been impeccable, but the familiarity of a shared meal was hard to beat. Zeb had made him see that.
After finishing his plate Zeb left to heat up seconds, and when he was out of earshot Hera nudged Kallus with her elbow. “Welcome to the family,” she said with a knowing smile.
Kallus choked on the water he was drinking, and he had to cough twice before he was able to turn back to Hera. “What gave it away?” he asked, not bothering to even try and hide what she apparently already had picked up on.
“I have eyes,” she winked and stood up as Zeb returned to the table. She turned to Zeb with a smile. “I’m happy for you,” she said and patted his shoulder before walking out of the room, leaving Zeb and Kallus alone.
Zeb looked confused after Hera. “What was that?”
Kallus let out a small, self-conscious laugh. “Apparently we’re not very subtle.” He bit his lip and mulled the next sentence over. He glanced up at Zeb. “She said I’m welcome to the family.”
Zeb’s ears slowly began to shift in pink and the smile spreading across his face was undeniably one of joy. “Karabast, Hera…” He looked after her with fondness and gratitude clear on his face.
Kallus squeezed Zeb’s hand, not quite sure what to say to that. They shared another smile and returned to their meal, enjoying it in peace.
That was until Ezra entered the room, sweaty and high on adrenaline from Jedi training and ready for seconds the moment he picked up on there being food available. He happily chatted away about his training and what he had been up to during their time away and didn’t seem all that bothered by the half-assed replies he was getting.
For a Jedi he was terrible at reading the room, Kallus thought as Ezra flopped down on a seat across from them, happily stuffing his face with food.
When Ezra finished his meal, he leaned back in his chair and looked between Zeb and Kallus. “So, what are you up to now?” he asked as if he expected the answer to be the tapcafe or a game of sabacc.
Kallus glanced over at Zeb who shrugged awkwardly. “I guess… I go back to my room now?” Kallus hadn’t meant to make it a question, but the way his voice rose at the end had made it into one.
Zeb looked torn for a second before boring his eyes into Ezra. “You’re moving out of our room.”
Ezra’s mouth fell open and he looked so offended Kallus couldn’t stop himself from snorting.
“What? No way!”
Zeb crossed his arm, obviously not backing down. “Fine. Then you’ll be sharing with me and Kal.”
Ezra frowned in confusion and Kallus could see the cogwheels trying to turn inside his head. “But there are only two bunks in there?” Ezra asked.
“Yeah, he’ll be sleeping in mine.”
Ezra’s frown deepened. “Why would Kallus..?”
A highly suggestive grin took over Zeb’s face, and Kallus could feel his face heat up. “What do you think?” Zeb asked.
As the cogwheels began to spin inside Ezra’s head they did so at an alarming speed, and Kallus could see, as well as hear, the moment they came screeching to a halt, as Ezra let out a comically loud gasp.
“Ew, Zeb! Gross!” Ezra looked between them in horror before standing up from his seat and rushing toward the bunks. From afar they soon heard “Kanan! I’m moving in with you!”
Zeb burst out laughing, the sound so contagious that soon fits of laughter shook both of their bodies. Kallus knew he wanted to hear much more of their entwined laughter.
When they finally had collected themselves enough to speak again, Kallus took Zeb’s hand. “Did you mean that? Do you really want me to live with you on the Ghost?”
The tip of Zeb’s ears turned pink once more and he smiled impishly. “I’m serious, Kal. I…”
Zeb was interrupted by Kanan entering the room, a thumb pointing over his shoulder toward where Ezra had run off to. “Why is Ezra saying- “ Kanan froze mid-step, and he appeared to inhale sharply, and despite Kanan being blind, Kallus was fairly sure he saw more than most would have. “Oh. I see.” Kanan laughed and a smile formed on his lips. “Congratulations. I’m happy you found each other.”
Zeb let out a chuckled “Thanks, buddy,” as Kallus mumbled a slightly embarrassed “Thank you,” in Kanan’s direction.
There were many things Kallus had had to get used to when joining the rebellion. The fact that people could be genuinely happy for one another sometimes still caught him off guard, and he had had to work on accepting this as something occurring without there being any ulterior motives involved.
Kallus had been prepared to face uncomfortable situations after joining the rebellion, but he had definitely not expected that he would have to handle congratulations from friends regarding a romantic relationship.
Kanan crossed his arms and hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I can see why Ezra would want to move out.”
Kallus took a sip of water to try and calm his mind racing through all the new, new, new swishing past him.
“I suppose… if I move in with Hera, then Ezra can have my room.” Kanan slowly nodded to himself, and while the first words had been hesitant, they became increasingly surer as he spoke. “It shouldn’t be a problem, I’ll just- uh, I’ll go check.” He said with just a hint of eagerness to his voice and promptly turned on his heel and disappeared out of the room.
“I feel kind of bad for making them move around,” Kallus confessed. He would happily take advantage of every way that made it easier for him to spend time with Zeb, but he didn’t wish to cause havoc amongst the Ghost crew.
Zeb guffawed. “No, trust me. Kanan is very happy about this.”
Kallus let out a laugh as he hadn’t missed the occasional not-so-discreet looks between Hera and Kanan. “Then I regret nothing.”
Zeb leaned in to place a kiss on Kallus’ mouth. “Me neither,” he murmured against Kallus’ lips and Kallus could feel his world begin to spin.
Zeb placed a second kiss on Kallus’ forehead. “I’m pretty beat, how about we turn in for the night?”
“In your room?” Kallus asked, feeling his heart rate speed up at the new, new, new. He liked the rhythm of it.
“I mean…,” Zeb’s smiled sheepishly. “If you want to? You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to, of course, I was just-“
Kallus placed a hand over Zeb’s mouth. “Let’s turn in for the night in our room.”
He could feel Zeb’s smile against the palm of his hand.
They put away their dinner, and as they walked toward the bunks Zeb took Kallus’ hand in his. Before they reached their bunk a door opened up and Sabine stepped out into the hallway.
“Oh, you’re back.” She smiled at them in greeting and opened her mouth as if to say something more when her eyes trailed down to find their hands locked together. Her eyes only grew slightly bigger before she looked back up again, a larger smile on her face. “Nice.” She nodded her head approvingly before walking past them.
They both stared in surprised silence after her.
Kallus was the first to break the silence with a surprised laugh. “That went rather well.”
“Yeah, welcome to the family.” Zeb pulled Kallus in for a kiss.