Macawi Kabbin was once again dragging Obi-Wan Kenobi to her favorite cantina while he was on leave from the Clone War.
"Why you insist on dragging me along with you, I will never understand."
"Men get jealous seeing the great General Kenobi with a pretty thing like me. Once you leave they practically fall over themselves to have a chance."
She laughs as Obi-Wan shakes his head with a sigh.
"You obviously don't need any help."
She stops in front of the door of the cantina and turns to look at him.
"You and Anakin are the only two that will spend time with me. I'm stuck in the Temple all the damn time. It feels like when I was a youngling again."
"Well, after you, my lady." He gestures toward the entrance, then holds his arm out for her to hold. She chuckles as she pushes his arm away.
Jon's Canteen held steady business from all types being on some of the higher levels but always seemed to be bustling as the night got underway. They sat at the bar drinking for a couple of hours. Obi-Wan always left before it got crowded, claiming he had an early morning the next day.
"Don't get too drunk, you are reporting tomorrow morning as a CO, remember?" Obi-Wan says as he gets up to leave.
Macawi waves her hand dismissively as she downs a shot.
"Yeah, totally read the briefing."
"Of course you did," he sighs.
She watches him leave, tapping her nails on the counter. She probably should read the briefing, but that could wait until on the way there in the morning. She sat people watching for a bit. Mostly humans came to this bar, which was one reason she liked it, she stood out being a Mirialan. Jon, the owner, also gave her free drinks. She smiled as Jon walked up behind the counter. He had a droid handle the bar during the day but took over at night.
"There's my favorite customer! Always a pleasure, Macawi."
She huffed, "Of course I am."
Jon put a shot in front of her, "First few are on me tonight."
After a bit of chatting with Jon, she noticed four men walk in and sit in a booth. They looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place why. She dismissed it and ordered a drink to sip on. She watched them for a bit, seeing that they kept taking turns. The one that she had her eye on to talk to was the taller, broody man. He had gotten drinks twice and he ordered one he would down at the bar before grabbing for the rest. Once he got up again she made her way across the bar and grabbed the shot before he did.
"Macawi." She said after she downed what was supposed to be his drink. He glared down at her before responding.
"Crosshair."
That was definitely a name a clone would choose. That's why they looked familiar.
"It seems I owe you a shot, Crosshair," She didn't break eye contact with him as she ordered two more shots. He continued glaring until she held a shot out to him. He took it and downed it after she did hers.
"Seems we're even now." He leaned against the bartop, getting comfortable.
"Seems so. Most clones I know go down to 79's."
"We don't get along with the regular clones," He got another two shots and slid it over to her, "Jedi don't typically spend time in Cantinas."
"I don't get along with regular Jedi." She smirked when he held up his glass to clink.
Hunter looked over when Crosshair didn't come back.
"That's why he's taking so long. Hey, Tech, know who that is?" Tech looked over going through his datapad.
"Unofficial Commander, Macawi Kabbin, Jedi, and our new CO as of tomorrow morning."
"Think he knows that?" Wrecker chimed in.
"I think the better question, Wrecker, is if she knows that."
"Five credits she's surprised in the morning," Hunter challenged.
After a few more drinks and talking Macawi sidled a bit closer to Crosshair.
"Well, since we both have boring things to do in the morning, and we still have plenty of night left.." She left the sentence hanging, looking up at him. He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.
"Lead the way."
Crosshair did a tiny mocking salute to the other three as Macawi led him out of the Cantina.
The next morning Macawi woke up in the hotel room that she and Crosshair had rented for the night. She sat up and saw a half-empty bed. Figures that he would leave before she did. After getting up she noticed her clothes were folded on the end of the bed instead of strewn across the floor. There was also a note.
"I didn't want to wake you. I had fun." She smiled, it had been sweet of him to fold her clothes. She then saw the time.
"Karabast, I'm gonna be late. Like always." She rushed out, grabbing two Cafs on her way to the landing strip she was supposed to be at. When she arrived she handed the second one she had gotten to Obi-Wan.
"Late, as usual."
"The bribe always helps though."
"Cody, do you mind filling in Commander Kabbin as we walk."
"Of course, General."
Macawi finally was looking at the briefing on her datapad as they headed toward a smaller ship. She wasn't paying attention.
"..And Crosshair."
She choked on her drink and started coughing. Obi-Wan, and Cody, both looked over at her.
"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked, some mischief behind his question.
"I'm fine. Just swallowed wrong." She cleared her throat once she stopped coughing and finally looked at her squad. It was the same clones from the cantina the night before. Cody introduced her and a few more details about the mission. It was getting to a Comm Jammer behind some enemy lines.
As Cody was debriefing, Tech discreetly handed Hunter five credits. Macawi was focused on not staring at Crosshair more than necessary. When it was time to go Obi-Wan patted her on the shoulder. She took a deep breath and followed behind the four clones onto their ship.
Once in hyperspace, the group did their own things. Wrecker and Hunter were having an arm-wrestling competition, Tech was driving, and Crosshair was cleaning his rifle while antagonizing Wrecker and Hunter. Macawi found some quiet in a cargo holding area. It had a couple of speeders and she busied herself with checking their calibration. After a few minutes, she felt someone watching her and turned to the door. Crosshair was leaning in it. He took a toothpick out of his mouth as he stared at her.
"Didn't read the briefing?"
She blushed, going back to the bikes. "I never do."
He walked over and stood on the opposite side of the speeder from her.
"Not a good look being late to meet your new squad, Commander." He smirked, teasing her.
"If you had woken me up instead of folding my clothes, maybe I wouldn't have been late." She was profusely blushing and didn't want to look up at him. "Plus, it's just formality. I'm really just along because there might be some extra trouble that you aren't able to handle."
He rounded the speeder and she backed away from him and bumped into the wall. He put a hand on the wall on one side of her and grabbed her chin with the other to make her look at him.
He leaned down and spoke with his lips right in front of hers. "If I had woken you up we both would have been late." He pulled away, sliding his fingers lightly down her throat before dropping his hand. He lingered for a moment before turning around. Macawi stared after him, staying in place against the wall as he left. He gave her one last look as he rounded the doorframe and she could have sworn he was slightly blushing.
After Crosshair was out of sight she let go of the breath she didn't realize she had been holding and slid down the wall. She took a few deep breaths to calm her heart rate.
"I really should have read that briefing."