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--- POV: ARC Captain Vere ---Opening his eyes to a blank off-white ceiling and lights that were way too kriffing bright, he hissed a curse and hastily shut his eyes again."You awake, then, Captain?" A familiar voice asked him. A Vod. A few footsteps sounded, accompanied by the comforting quiet click of plastoid armour, and the brightness of the lights dimmed.Grumbling a few more curses under his breath, he answered, "Unfortunately."Taking stock of how he felt -- alright, other than a migraine for the ages, what felt weirdly like wobbly knees, and a bad stomach cramp -- before he tried reopening his eyes, he asked, "Where?""In the healing halls," the vod answered, and Vere risked opening his eyes a second time.There, as he'd expected, stood Tranq. And his CMO looked exasperated. Vere bit back a wince. "What happened?""I was hoping you'd be able to tell me that," his CMO told him, and the exasperation turned into concern. "What the actual kriff, Vere?""Well, I feel mostly fine, so I was wondering why and how I landed here, seeing as I don't remember getting injured or passing out," he parried.Tranq scowled at him. "Nothing about going spelunking in the Temple's lower levels with the kriffing Wolfpack? Nothing about finding a kriffing sith artefact down there? Nothing about kriffing picking the kriffing thing up and messing with it?""No? Sir?" Vere couldn't stop his wince, that time. "The others--"Tranq interrupted him. "The others are all telling the same story you are."Which meant that they were in one piece, alive, and awake. Thank the Force. He didn't know what he'd have done if any of them had been injured.He happened to meet Tranq's eyes, a moment later, and got a horrible sinking feeling. "What else went wrong?" Vere asked, his voice small and quiet."You all scan as uninjured, in the Force as well as with our best tech, but all of you are..." Tranq trailed off, scowled, and muttered something about Force osik before he continued. "All of you are... well, altered. On what appears to be a genetic level."A shiver of foreboding slithered down Vere's spine and he just stared blankly at his CMO.None of this computed. What-- How--After a couple of long seconds. Vere realised he was just staring blankly at his CMO, agape. "That-- that's impossible.""Apparently not," Tranq answered. "Apparently, the ancient Sith had a habit of creating weird hybrid monsters and experimenting on themselves as well as each other.""And... the change..." Vere almost didn't want to ask, but he needed to know."Seems to be primarily of a sexual nature."That... that might have been perhaps one of the worst possible answers he could have gotten, barring anything life-threatening. Which he'd already guessed it wasn't, given how -- well, relatively, at least -- calm his CMO was being. Vere had to resist the urge to reach down and check, to find out for himself what had happened to his-- He didn't even want to think it. "Sexual?"Tranq closed his eyes for a long moment, sighed, and then took pity on him. "Well. It deals with your reproductive systems, anyways. We're not entirely sure exactly what the consequences of this-- this change will be. The jetii healers also have never encountered this before. Knowing what it is and what caused it isn't the same as knowing how to treat or reverse it. Whatever that thing did, it doesn't appear to be causing any physical pain or interfering with your normal bodily functions, but your bloodwork shows all kriffing kinds of bizarre differences from what would be expected, especially in the hormonal ranges. You're all so far off baseline, we have no idea what to do except take samples and keep watch. We've contacted Madame Nu, who's searching the archives looking for any similar incidents."This was by far not the weirdest Force osik he'd ever heard of, no. But it was happening to him. He didn't want to know. Not now. Maybe not ever. Maybe if he just... ignored it and went about his life, it would wear off, like the curse that had hit Padawan-Commander Fox and turned him half vulptex. That had had a time limit on it. But his training was doing its best to insist. A part of him needed to know, on a bone deep level. Even though he also didn't want to.Don't ask, don't do it. Just don't-- "And, what, exactly, happened to us?"Tranq gave him a sour look. "We're not sure. Whatever it is doesn't seem to have fully stabilised yet. You and Boost have developed, well, tentacle-like structures."He had a what? And it was a sexual change? Kriff oh kriff, this was-- no. Kriff, if he concentrated, he thought he could feel something squirming down there, a sensation barely noticeable over the stomach cramp that was still not releasing. Kriff, he had a kriffing tentacle for a deece.His battalion medic paused there, watching him closely, and Vere distantly realised he was maybe panicking. A little. Slightly. Shoving the emotions in a box as best he could, he shut his eyes and consciously forced his breathing steady. In. Hold. Then out. Repeat as needed.When Tranq was sure he was calm enough to keep listening, he went on. "Velvet and Sinker don't show any immediate physical signs of abnormality, but we suspect it's only a matter of time before those become observable. Vector and Regor have developed what appears to be similar in structure and function to a human uterus and vaginal opening in addition to the penises they already had, though, luckily for them, whatever you all set off doesn't seem to have graced them with the mammary glands to go with their new equipment." He frowned and then muttered, "We're still looking for the eggs, though..."That was... well... ominous... and was about par for the course, too, where the more or less harmless Force osik was concerned. Confusing as kriff, but not immediately a threat. But Tranq said it had been a sith artefact they'd unknowingly kriffed around with. He winced. "And the negative side effects?""We don't know yet," Tranq glared at him, as though he'd intentionally been trying to make his CMO look stupid. Which he hadn't. Vere gave the Vod his best rueful-apologetic look, and after a moment Tranq kept talking. "Odds are good you'll experience extreme mood swings, abdominal cramps, and stronger sexual urges than usual, given your current hormonal cocktail. On top of that, I'm fairly sure you're in about as much calorie debt as you would be after a ground campaign. But I'm basing these predictions off what I've learned about human and near-human reproductive biology and the associated hormonal cycles. It might be that you'll experience something closer to what nautolans do, during their yearly spawning migration and the associated mating season. Or it could be that whatever you got merged with is more similar to the octopodes we learned about during that campaign on Ganymeade VI.""How--" Vere had to clear his throat when it did its best to close up. "How did you determine that this-- this change is reproductive in nature? How do you know it's not just... suddenly tentacle shaped?"Tranq gave him a glare that hinted at possible future reprisals, but answered. "The fact that the others suddenly got vaginas was a big clue. The alterations themselves became obvious upon recovering you. Your brand new tentacle dick was swelling up and crawling out of your codpiece. It only calmed down after we administered a sedative. As far as we can tell, it operates similar to a cephalopod's tentacles in that it has a cluster of nerves that control the movement. In other words, it is prehensile and while it should do what your largest brain tells it to do, it has its own smaller brain to move independently."Well, that wasn't entirely reassuring -- especially given the bizarre squirming he could still feel going on in his pants -- and he still wasn't sure how that indicated a sexual change, Vere decided against asking anything else and risking Tranq's wrath. He just nodded and did his best to hide his discomfort."You six are confined to the healing halls for the next couple of rotations, and we'll have to keep a close eye on how this progresses. In the meantime, you're to report any and everything you notice that feels strange, moves weirdly, or twitches when it shouldn't."Kriff. "Including sexual urges?""Especially sexual urges."Letting his head fall back onto the thin pillow with a muffled thump, Vere didn't bother to hide his groan. "At least tell me I can use the 'fresher on my own.""Provided you do as directed and actually report what needs to be reported, we can arrange that.""And if I want to see my ARCs?"Tranq eyed him, his expression wavering between pained and exasperated. "Maybe once we're sure you're all stable. But not yet. We don't even kriffing know if this is communicable, for kriff's sake."Now that was an unnerving thought.Vere eyed Tranq, who was looking more irritated by the second, and nodded. "Understood. Are they getting the same debriefing?"He only noticed the abysmal pun after he'd spoken, and shoved down on laughter he just knew would sound a bit hysterical."They are. Or should be." Tranq muttered another few curses, swearing under his breath about ARC troopers who ought to kriffing know better than to mess with kriffing sith artefacts, then simply turned on his heel and left the room.Vere took in the surprising lack of monitors and tubes attached to him and decided it was high time to hit the 'fresher. If nothing else, he needed to kriffing figure out how to take a piss.And do his best not to freak out in the process. --- POV: ARC Trooper Velvet ---Too bright. Too bright. Much too bright.Velvet covered his face with his hands and grimaced. His head was pounding like he’d slammed it into a durasteel wall sans helmet.“Hmm. How’s this?” That was a vod. Carver. He’d picked up a slight Coruscanti accent which normally Velvet found adorable but currently sounded like nails on slate, given how his head hurt. Every sound was too much.Velvet let out a pained moan.Carver swore. There was a faint ding as some buttons were pressed.“Alright. I’ve dropped the lights to almost nothing. Can you try now, Velvet?”Velvet let a tiny sliver of space form between his fingers. The room was still bright enough to make his eyes tear up a little but at least it wasn’t painful now.He kept his hands over his face anyways and settled for peeking through his fingers.“Wh--” Velvet had to swallow hard. His throat was so dry. “What happened?”Carver stepped over and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Velvet let out an involuntary hiss at how karking hot Carver’s hand was. He could feel it through whatever flimsi-thin medical gown he was wearing. It had to be a medical gown and not his blacks. They smelled different. Though apparently the Halls had doubled the amount of laundry soap they used because this gown stank of chemicals.“First off, you and your batchers and the Wolfpack ARCs you were out spelunking with are all alive and relatively unharmed.”Dread pooled in Velvet’s stomach. The feeling could have been worse, though, because Carver had dispelled his immediate concerns with the fact that his batchers were alive.“R--” Velvet swallowed again. Kark. His throat felt like sandpaper. He needed some water. “Relatively?”“What do you remember last?” Carver asked. One of his hands stayed on Velvet’s shoulder while the other poked and prodded at a datapad.“Uh…” Velvet tried to remember. He did. It was just that his head hurt. And he was so damn thirsty. All he could really think about was getting something to soothe that need. “I… uh…” Reporting to medical was important. Velvet knew this. He tried to think. “Latemeal,” he said eventually. “We… we were eating latemeal with some other ARCs and then…”Nothing.A big, fat blank spot.Velvet winced. “Did we get black out drunk?”Carver snorted. “We all wish that was all that happened. No, apparently you, Captain Vere, Vector, and three Wolfpack vod’e decided to go deep diving in the underbelly of the Temple. Without Jedi support.”Velvet wrinkled his nose. “That sounds like a dumb idea.”“And yet,” Carver said, voice as dry as Tatooine, “here we are.”It was impossible not to cringe at Carver’s unimpressed tone of voice. Still. He wasn’t nearly as pissed off as Velvet would have expected.“While in the depths, the six of you encountered what we can only guess is a Sith artefact. Upon interacting with it -- how, exactly, we still aren’t sure -- it introduced genetic changes to you all. Some of you have minor physical alterations. We’re keeping you all separated and quarantined until we find out more.”Minor physical changes.From Tranq, Velvet’s own CMO, Velvet would have taken that statement at face value. But Carver was a Corrie and those vod’e were karking insane. They all had ridiculously skewed opinions on what counted as a ‘serious’ medical issue. Understandably. They’d all suffered so much during the war.A gut-melting cramp squeezed in Velvet’s stomach. He couldn’t tell if it was nausea or hunger. Or thirst, really, since he didn’t feel hungry at all, just ravenously parched.“Here.” Carver helped him sit up a bit, fiddling with the medical bed to allow him to recline while getting vertical enough to suck some water out of a straw and cup.Holding the cup required that Velvet take his hands off of his face. He gritted his teeth and got through the still-searing light in the room in order to slake his need.The water tasted…Weirdly flat.He made a face at the cup and tried drinking again.Still weird.He pulled off the straw and the top of the cup and went directly to guzzling the water down.The water felt wet. There was plenty of spit in his mouth. His stomach felt full of water now.And yet Velvet was still so kriffing thirsty.It was like he’d been swallowing air. Or sand. Or karking anything other than the delicious clean water he had in front of him.“Talk to me, Velvet,” Carver said, catching his attention again. “I need to know how you’re feeling. For the others, the effects of the artifact are more obvious. You -- and Sinker -- both have been altered in ways that have yet to be categorised, so I need you to talk to me.”Velvet squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. “Light hurts. It’s…” He swallowed against the spiky pain in his throat. “Too bright. Everything is too loud. I’m cold. Or you're hot.” He managed to give Carver an approximation of his normal appreciative leer.Carver huffed in amusement as he took notes.“That water did nothing,” Velvet said, uneasy. “I’m, kriff, Carver, I feel like I haven’t had anything to drink in a week.”“Hmmm. Hypersensitivity. Your vitals are showing that you are at relatively good hydration. We’ve had you on a drip since you got in hours ago. Maybe some kind of reaction with your mouth and throat tissue?”Since it didn’t seem he actually wanted an answer to that, Velvet ignored the question. Instead, he asked, “You said the others had been… changed. Are Vere and Vector alright?”Carver had already said that they were. Velvet needed the reassurance.“Aside from a couple of physical alterations, they seem to be in better shape than you.”Velvet turned all of his attention to Carver and grabbed ahold of his wrist.Gently, gently, he found himself thinking. His first impulse had been to grab and shake… but that was wrong. Velvet didn’t… he wouldn’t…“Tell me,” he said. Now his voice came out in a low, guttural growl.
What the kriff?
Velvet drew himself up in surprise. Since when could he actually growl, like he was some kind of loth-wolf?Carver simply eyed him and took more notes. “Both are awake at this point and reporting no discomfort aside from pounding headaches.” He raised an eyebrow at Velvet.Velvet cringed a little and nodded. “Yeah. Head bad.” That made him scowl. “No, head good.” Blowjobs were objectively the best sex act there was and Velvet was always up for a blowjob.Speaking of…Just as he was opening his mouth, Carver gave him a deadpan look and said, “No. Not until we’re more certain that whatever is going on with you all isn’t contagious.”“If it was, wouldn’t you be in a sealed medical suit?” Velvet pointed out the obvious lack of one with a prod to Carver’s arm.“Master Zith has assured us that as far as they can tell with the Force, simple interaction shouldn’t spread whatever this is. But trust me, we definitely had you all isolated in a clean room and under observation for the first few hours.” Carver shrugged and gave Velvet a wry smile. “We’re still working on eliminating other possibilities for contagion. Including sexual transmission. Since we all know that’s going to be a possible issue with you all.”Velvet reflexively grinned. Kriff, yes, it was going to be an issue. He was going to go have some comfort sex with his batchers as soon as he was able. They all deserved an orgasm after this nonsense.“Do you think that sexual transmission is an actual likely possibility?” Velvet had to ask. That feeling of dread was back.“Yes. All of you have modifications that are sexual in nature,” Carver said grimly. “Well, at least barring you and Sinker, though given the other four, we’re of the opinion that we maybe simply haven’t seen the full extent of your modification yet.”Oh no. Velvet gasped. “Tell me that Vere and Vector both still have dicks. I need those.”“Vector does, and he’s gained a vaginal opening.” Karking what?! “Vere’s penis has…” Carver winced.Velvet was two steps away from breaking out of that damn room and finding Vere himself. “Has kriffing what, Carver?”Carver visibly mastered himself. “His penis is now more of a tentacle. And also appears to be prehensile. So there is that.”Velvet’s jaw hit the floor.
This is horrible.
Vere’s beautiful dick. It had been damaged, the poor thing.
Wait, this is amazing.
Vere’s dick was now prehensile?!“I have so many questions,” Velvet said, feeling kind of stunned.“You and me both,” Carver said with a sigh.“And Vector has…” Velvet boggled for a minute. Vector had another hole that Velvet could eat him out of. “This may be the best day of my life,” he said quietly. “Wait, no. Please tell me that Vere’s dick is still large enough to fill me up.”They could use sheaths if they needed to and Velvet would enjoy every inch of Vere that he was allowed to, but it would be a crying shame if Vere lost any of his length and girth.Carver pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “For kriff’s sake, Velvet.”Velvet just stared at him. Carver, of all people, should know how important this was to him.Carver shook his head and sighed. “As far as we can tell, the size is comparable. However, we haven’t seen what will happen when he gets aroused and no you can’t go experiment with him for us to find out.”Velvet snapped his mouth shut, biting back his knee-jerk attempt to volunteer to help.“I’ll let you know as soon as I know more,” Carver said in a surprisingly soothing voice. “Tranq is watching out for him and Rayn is working with Vector. The others thought that you might be happier to see me rather than another 212th medic, so I got you.” There was a hint of a shy smile on Carver’s lips.“You know I’ll always make time for you,” Velvet said in a low purr. Carver was prickly and stubborn and terrifyingly brutal about some things, and Velvet was pleased as punch to have him as a favoured kriff-buddy. One of these days he was going to convince Carver to join him and his batchers for a little fun sex-time. He knew that Carver didn’t mind a few extra hands, seeing as how Kix and Jesse sometimes joined them for a little fun. More often than not, though, Carver was more interested in just Velvet alone. Something about safety and leftover trauma, which Velvet had always tried hard not to step on.Now…If Vere and Vector were out of reach…Velvet swallowed hard as lust roared up inside of him. “There’s extra space in this bed, if you want it.”Carver lightly tapped his datapad on the top of Velvet’s head. “Down. Let’s make sure you aren’t contagious first.”“We could wear protection,” Velvet said, undeterred.“There is no protection in the galaxy that will stand up to a Force spread STI.” Carver glared at him.Oh. Right. That would make sense.“... Are you sure about that?” Velvet asked. Just to be certain.“Master Che and Madam Nu are working on the problem,” Carver answered, unruffled. “Until then, are you up for some tests? The sooner we figure out what the kark is going on with you, the sooner we can get you back to your batchers and hopefully fix whatever the kriff is going on.”“Right. Yeah.” Velvet eyed Carver. He was still in his armour, minus the helmet; that was normal for him. “You should come with me,” he said. “When we’re done. When we figure it out. Come with me to meet up with Vector and Vere.”Oh, they would make Carver feel so good. All of the Corries needed love and attention, and Carver was not exempt from that. Velvet licked his lips and thought about how much he wanted to be licking other things.After a very long pause, Carver shrugged with one shoulder. “I’ll think about it. Meanwhile, let’s start with more blood work.”Velvet sighed and held out his arm.This was going to be both boring and frustrating.Carver pulled over a tray and got to work setting up the draw. Velvet didn’t pay much attention to the explanations of how much would be taken and what tests Carver would run. It didn’t much matter. The medics would let them know what was relevant.Velvet’s apathy continued right up until the first needle pierced his skin.The room filled with the richest, most delicious scent that Velvet had ever experienced. Right up there with really messy, satisfying sex.Nearly against his will, he turned to stare at his arm, at the dark red, nearly black blood that welled up.That growl was back in his throat and the thirst hammered at his brain.Carver froze. “Velvet.”Ohhhhh that was a delicious reaction. Velvet very much liked to see Carver startled to stillness. It made Velvet want to eat him right up.He turned his growl into a croon. “Pretty Carver,” he said. Somehow, he’d gotten his hand around Carver’s wrist. He didn’t remember moving. The needle was still sticking out of his own arm, though Carver had lost his grip on it. “Don’t be afraid,” he said around that thrumming, hungry noise in his chest. “I won’t, wouldn’t ever hurt you. I just want to taste you.”Velvet licked his lips and ran his tongue over his teeth. There was something off, there, something he couldn’t quite think about past the overwhelming need to feed.Carver’s breath picked up its pace and his pulse pounded so loudly that Velvet could hear it, beating like a familiar drum.“Velvet, you are not inspiring a lot of comfort in me right now,” Carver said with impressive aplomb. “I need you to back off right now or I’ll call in our vod’e to hold you down.”That made Velvet pause. Carver was afraid. Carver shouldn’t ever be afraid, especially not with Velvet.Memories of their first time together raced through Velvet’s head. The bouts of panic that Carver had fought through were heart breaking. They’d moved past that. Surely.Velvet closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.That didn’t help at all. The room smelled like Carver’s sweat and Velvet’s blood. The pain in Velvet’s throat grew worse. He needed to drink and he wanted to drink Carver up.How, exactly, he was going to do that eluded him.It didn’t matter. Carver was afraid. Somehow, Velvet could smell that, too.One by one, Velvet forced his fingers to open up and release Carver’s arm. Once he was able to let go, he balled his hands up into fists and crossed his arms, pressing them into his chest.“Won’t… won’t hurt you. Wouldn’t,” Velvet choked out. “Just… thirsty. Hungry. Horny. Not sure which.” He shook his head. “Wanna…”All of the very sordid and fantastically hot things he wanted to do to Carver flashed through his head. He groaned with need.“You’re doing good, Velvet,” Carver said soothingly. “Do you need me to leave?”Velvet sat and breathed. He didn’t want Carver to leave, ever. He shook his head.“Alright. I’ll stay.”Relief poured through him. He hadn’t scared his sweet medic away.He snorted. Sweet. Carver was about as sweet as a citrus-sour, at least most of the time. When they were together in bed, though, he was such a cabur, always caring for Velvet, making sure they both got what they wanted and needed.“Do you need someone else to run these tests?” Carver asked.That idea also sounded awful. Velvet shook his head again.“Alright. Then we’ll try this again. You let me know when you’re ready for me to touch you, and then I’ll verbally warn you before I do anything, alright?”Velvet licked his lips. Carver’s heartbeat rang in Velvet’s head.He was an ARC trooper. He could take some damn medical tests.He held out his arm first, and then pried open his eyes again. Carver was standing there, stock still and unmoved by whatever was going on with Velvet’s face.“So damn professional,” Velvet said hoarsely.“Whatever you’ve got going on, I’ve seen worse,” Carver said dismissively. “Though I have to say, the fangs are new.”“Wait, fangs?”The next several minutes passed in a daze. Whatever Carver was doing with the blood and the readings and who-the-kriff-knew what, Velvet didn’t give a shit. He was too busy running his tongue over his Force-kriffed fangs.They were sharp. Pointy. Four on the top and four on the bottom, right around his eye teeth. He worked his jaw up and down.“How am I ever going to give a blowjob now?” Velvet said pathetically.Carver patted his shoulder. “Given that they didn’t show up until you smelled your own blood, they are probably retractable.”That was hardly reassuring. Velvet didn’t even want to think about a life without oral sex.“I’m probably testing my luck here, but can I see them?” Carver asked.“What.” Velvet looked at him. “I almost ate you and you want a closer look at my teeth?!”Carver rolled his eyes and snorted. “Hardly. You growled a little and then needed to keep your hands to yourself for a time out.” He looked so damn unimpressed that Velvet could almost ignore the way his heart still pounded faster than normal. Thank the Force, he didn’t smell quite so afraid anymore.“Besides,” Carver said, “better me than someone else. I’m thinking that you might have extra incentive to not bite me.”“Or more incentive to do it,” Velvet grumbled. The thought of biting Carver was significantly sexier now than it had been two days ago, which was really saying something because Velvet karking loved a good love bite.Kriff, just the fact that Carver was willing to do this to take care of him was such a turn on. Spine of pure beskar, that one. Velvet’s mouth watered.Rather than say anything, he just opened his mouth and let his tongue lay flat.Shit, shit, shit, this was so hot. He felt like he was waiting to suck Carver off. Already, he was uncomfortably hard under his gown.“Easy, vod,” Carver said quietly. He put on a fresh pair of protective medical gloves. “I’m going to touch your chin and move your head back and forth.”That just made Velvet pant harder. He nodded, fast. Yes, please, move me how you like.There was a delicate touch to his jaw, then a firmer grip. Velvet’s eyes unfocused a little. He stayed as still as he could while Carver gently tilted his head from one side to the other.“They look natural,” Carver said. “Not sure if they grew out of your existing teeth or if there is a retractable cover.”Velvet went with Carver’s unspoken direction, opening his mouth up wide.“Good boy,” Carver said quietly.Velvet let out a whine. Yes, please, I am very good.“I’m going to put my fingers in your mouth now,” Carver said in a low, comm-sex voice. “You will not bite down, do you understand?”Velvet gave a very small, very fast nod.There was a short pause, and then Carver tilted Velvet’s head so that they were looking eye to eye.“Do you need this to be more professional, Velvet?” he asked, all traces of seduction gone. “I won’t take advantage of you.”Carver’s hand was still on Velvet’s jaw, just holding him.Velvet licked his lips and tried to breathe. “Don’t want you to stop. I like it. Please.”Carver narrowed his eyes and hummed. “We will not be having sex right now.” Before Velvet’s disappointment could grow, Carver added, “After we’re done with the examination, I won’t object if you want to jerk yourself off, though.”
Oh thank kriff.
“You will tell me if you feel uncomfortable or if you want me to stop,” Carver said sternly.Velvet could only nod.Carver closed his eyes and cursed. “If I didn’t know you, this would be such a bad idea,” he muttered to himself.Velvet let out a small whine. He wanted to beg.“Open,” Carver said, turning his attention back to Velvet’s mouth.Velvet opened obediently, again laying his tongue out flat like he was about to lick something.With careful fingers, Carver pressed into the hinge of Velvet’s jaw, adding a small reminder for him to keep his mouth open. Velvet would still be able to bite down if he needed to… though if Carver wanted to try and force his mouth open, he could.This was closer to a type of rough play that Velvet didn’t usually go for. Sith-hells, he probably wouldn’t be into it at all except that Carver’s grip was gentle and soothing.With his other hand, Carver delicately lifted up Velvet’s lips and probed along the gumline. As much as Velvet wanted to lick and suck those fingers, he knew that Carver was trying to do something here.“Good,” Carver said softly. “So very good. Thank you, Velvet, for sitting so prettily for me.”A shiver worked down Velvet’s back and he choked off a small moan. Force, this was so hot. All he could think about was what else he wanted to be doing with his mouth.“I’m going to feel along the inside of your teeth now,” Carver said.That was what he said. What he did instead was lay his index finger flat on Velvet’s tongue, and push it all the way in until his knuckles hit Velvet’s lips. Once there, he just stroked Velvet’s tongue.“Kriff, you’re pretty,” Carver said softly. “Hold still for me.”Velvet was near shaking with the effort of keeping himself in place. He wanted to jerk off. His cock was already dripping. Carver was so close that Velvet could feel his body heat radiating through his medical gown. How, he wasn’t sure, because Carver was still in his karking armor.Very softly, Carver dragged his finger around the inside gumline, first bottom and then top. He gently tugged at Velvet’s fangs, one by one, and each little pull went straight to Velvet’s dick, to the point where he was outright moaning by the last pull.“Sensitive, huh,” Carver said. He ran his thumb over the flat front of one of the upper fangs. The sensation directly translated across Velvet’s body, sending him into a full body shudder. “Excellent control, Velvet. I’ve always thought that was a very attractive trait.”Velvet let out a little strangled noise. He wanted to move so badly.“Alright, now we’re going to test that control,” Carver said, like a lunatic. His index finger was back to laying flat on Velvet’s tongue, and now his middle finger was there, too. “I want you to carefully close your mouth and suck. No biting.”
Kriff, Carver you are the best.
Velvet immediately complied, sealing his lips around Carver’s fingers and sucking them like they were a dick. He laved his tongue all around them and worked them ever-deeper into his mouth.Now in addition to hearing the pounding of Carver’s heart, Velvet could smell lust.Normally, the scent of sex only became obvious after engaging in the act for a while, or in a particularly unventilated room. This was slightly different. Velvet couldn’t put his finger on it. The scent wasn’t like sweat or come or even lube, and still he knew that it was arousal. More importantly, he could tell that it was Carver’s arousal. Force knew that Velvet himself was probably dripping more than a bit of precome already.Still, Velvet sucked for all he was worth. He knew damn well that he was good at it. The glassy look in Carver’s eyes was more than enough encouragement.“Enough,” Carver said, voice gone rough. “Open.”Velvet gave one last suck and then opened his mouth.Again, Carver’s fingers were over his teeth, prodding and probing. Velvet squirmed in place.“They aren’t as sharp now,” Carver said thoughtfully. “At least semi-retractable, then. Looks like you’ll be able to blow whoever you want, provided you’re careful.”Lust and relief both flooded through Velvet. Carver damn well knew how much Velvet loved that act and he’d just risked himself to make sure that Velvet could do it safely. Velvet was torn between hugging him and trying to ride his dick for the rest of the week. Or maybe just falling over with how grateful he was.Carver was still holding onto his jaw and rubbing his fingers around in Velvet’s mouth. A soft smile played on Carver’s lips. “I’d like to get some bite impressions later, as well as some scans, but for now… I think that you’ve earned a reward for being so good.”
Yes, please!
Velvet moaned in encouragement.Carver leaned in so that he was whispering into Velvet’s skin. “Go ahead and reach under your gown and jerk yourself off. I’m going to hold you right here and let you suck on my fingers while you do that. No biting. Alright?”Absolutely yes. Velvet couldn’t nod fast enough. He fumbled around with the sheet on his lap and then a bit more to find the gaps in his gown.Finally grabbing ahold of his decee was a relief. His cock ached with how hard he was. How long had Carver been teasing him, anyways?! There was a rather large wet spot from where Velvet had leaked all over his gown. Now that meant that he had a nice easy slide as he stroked himself off.Kriff, he wasn’t going to last.“Good job, Velvet,” Carver whispered to him, right in his ear. “You’re doing very well. Now take as much of my fingers as you can.”With that, Carver pressed his hand further into Velvet’s mouth, no doubt damn well knowing that Velvet had no gag reflex. At that point, all Velvet had to do was hold still while Carver face-kriffed him with his two fingers.The feel of something thick and pleasant in his mouth and the friction in his throat and on his dick sent Velvet right over the edge. Carver’s hands were oh-so gentle as he coaxed him through his orgasm.Finally, Velvet felt spent. He slumped back into his bed. Carver’s fingers slid out of his mouth and smoothed over his lips.“Beautiful, vod. Well done. You did very well.” Carver held him close, though the positioning was a little awkward.A minute or two more passed as Velvet came down.Eventually, Velvet managed to say, “That was karking hot.”Carver huffed out a laugh. “Well, your oral fixation hasn’t changed.”Velvet managed a weary leer. Then he looked down at his lap. He was very sticky. And now mildly chilled.And still karking thirsty, though the orgasm had distracted him from it for a while.“I’ll get you cleaned up,” Carver said, patting him on the shoulder. “And now we have another sample to take.”Velvet snickered. “You can take as many samples like that as you want.”Carver laughed. Then he paused. “This was alright?” he asked softly. “I know this isn’t what you would normally do, and we don’t usually go this hard with the orders thing…”Velvet leaned over to press a kiss to Carver’s arm, still close by. “It was good. I’m fine. I liked it, and I’m glad that it made the sample gathering less… awful.”Carver’s shoulders slumped and he let out a rough exhale. “Good. That’s good.” Then he rolled his eyes. “Though I may never hear the end of it from Tranq.”Velvet laughed. “Nah, Tranq will just congratulate you for keeping me from complaining.”And there was the added bonus that Vere and Vector would likely be jealous. No chance in any Sith-hell that they were getting guided jerk off sessions from their medics.“Seriously, though,” Velvet said. “The sooner we figure out if I’m safe, the sooner I can get back to Vector and Vere. So do all the tests you want.”Velvet wanted to be with his batchers as soon as possible.Carver nodded in understanding and gave Velvet’s shoulder another squeeze. “Let’s get you changed. Then I’ll get to work on the next scan.”--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Vokara Che ---Splint was still looking unnerved. In the Force he felt awful. If it hadn't been a Vod medic she was thinking about, she'd have said he was on the verge of tears.Vokara debated. She was tempted to offer him a hug -- that seemed to help any Vod she'd ever met quickly regain their equilibrium, really, since touch was such an ingrained part of their culture and identity -- but wasn't entirely certain he would accept, considering how packed the healing halls were at the moment.Healers Gloor and Yeu were present to assist, as were all of the various Battalion CMOs as well as many of their staff medics. Until it was possible to verify that this -- whatever it was, was something no one present had ever seen or heard of before -- wasn't directly transmissible or liable to cause the affected Vod'e harm, it was an all hands on deck scenario for the troopers. Considering how popular both trios of Vod'e were among the other Companies quartered at the temple, the chances that they'd accidentally spread it was high unless they were quarantined, and also made this every medic's problem, rather than just Tranq's or Splint's. She and her team would assist in any way possible, but the tension in the various Vod medics present was palpable.At the moment, Splint was doing his best to answer his Commander's questions without compromising his patients' privacy, which she could tell was really only stressing them both. He'd hurried out of Sinker's room, almost slamming the door behind him, and been instantly snagged by Wolffe, who was Concerned. About his medic and his troopers.Healers Gloor and Yeu were currently assisting with running tests and analyses, respectively, so Vokara straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. It was high time she interceded."Commander Wolffe," she spoke up firmly, "I need to speak to CMO Splint."Wolffe straightened up, as though he'd been ambushed with a hypospray, but Splint radiated relief."I can share my observations in the conference room," Splint offered. "But I think it might be wiser if you see for yourself. I'm... not sure I believe my own eyes."Now that was almost alarming. Vokara caught and held his gaze. "You've never doubted your own observations before," she said simply. "Let's get you that confirmation. Commander, if you'd excuse us, we have a patient to see to."Wolffe -- very reluctantly -- bit back whatever he wanted to say, and stepped out of their way. "You'll keep me informed," he said, the words phrased as a demand, but sounding like a desperate plea."Don't worry, Commander," Vokara answered, firm belief in every word, "we'll make sure they're alright. Splint?"Steeling himself, shoving all of his stress, fear, and worry aside for later, Splint nodded. "After you, ma'am."Not sure what to think of anything that was happening -- the Vod'e were good at unintentionally causing chaos and intentionally causing havoc, but tentacle penii and spontaneously altered sexual organs were a brand new form of crazy -- Vokara gave him a nod and opened the door, leading the way into the room.The room itself was small, and it felt even smaller when the sheer presence of the Vod on the bed hit her. He felt oddly like a Force sensitive, for all that she knew karking well he was nothing of the sort. And his eyes seemed to reflect the light like a tooka's. And when he spotted Splint, he let out a low hiss that sounded like nothing she'd ever heard before.Splint cringed a little.Vokara caught Sinker's strangely altered eyes and glared at him. "Stop that."The demand drew Sinker up short and got him to gulp and shrink back a little. "S-- Sorry, ma'am," he muttered, abashed. "I-- It's a reflex."That seemed to reassure Splint somewhat. "A reflex, Vod?" he asked as he stepped a bit more fully into view. "You've never reacted to me like that before."Sinker winced. "I-- I can't explain it. I just-- I'm hungry and the lights hurt and it feels like all my senses are dialled up to about 15."Splint took a step forward, sending a phial skittering across the floor. Vokara glanced down and wanted to sigh. The remains of a hemosampling kit lay scattered across the room, including the needles and various other previously sterile components. That wasn't ideal."Splint," she asked, "would you get a new sampling kit? I'll deal with the debris."Splint winced. Sinker all but recoiled, trying to hide, and his presence in the Force shaded past the mild embarrassment and pain he'd been showing into true distress and near panic. "Oh Force-- please, no-- not that again--" he stammered."Alright," Vokara agreed immediately, though she was somewhat puzzled and alarmed by Sinker's reaction. "Then we won't. Not until you feel you're ready. But we do need those samples, Sinker. It's unfortunately necessary. How can we make it less stressful?""I-- I don't think you can," Sinker answered miserably. "I-- whatever happened-- CMO Splint said it changed us. And-- and I've never reacted to the smell of blood like this before, but I never want to feel that again."That had the ring of trauma to it, and, Vokara forced her wince not to show on her face, she was pretty sure that whatever had happened was what had sent Splint hurrying out of the room."The smell of blood?" Vokara asked him gently, wondering what in the name of the Force could possibly have smelled of blood. Nothing in here should have. Not enough to be noticeable. Not even the hemosampling kit."It--" Sinker shut his eyes, radiating his misery and making Splint reach out to squeeze Sinker's shoulder as though he couldn't help himself. "It made me want-- I'm not sure what. But--" Sinker shuddered, "I didn't feel like myself. At all.""Did you feel threatened by it?" Vokara tried to gently probe around the issue.Sinker shook his head, biting at his lower lip, and unintentionally showing off what appeared to be fangs that she was sure he hadn't had before. He stayed silent, besides the pitiful, low, keening sound that Vokara was sure he wasn't consciously making.She wanted to wrap the poor Vod up in a mountain of blankets and hug the stuffing out of him. "Did it make you want to hurt anyone?"Sinker shook his head again, and the sub-vocal keening intensified for a moment, sending a shiver down her spine, before he spoke. "I-- It made me--" he swallowed. "It made me hungry. I-- I don't know what I would have done if CMO Splint hadn't left the room. I-- thank you for listening, Vod."Splint's grip on Sinker's shoulder went tighter for a beat, offering comfort. "It's my job to listen. Udesii, Sinker," he said, as calmly as he could, "we'll get you sorted out. Somehow."Sinker looked up at his CMO, his trust -- and his scepticism and lingering wariness -- evident, and nodded. "But, if you need those samples and I can't-- I can't tolerate you taking them--""If it would help," Vokara said, "I could use a Force suggestion to send you to sleep while we work. Or there are ordinary sedatives in your CMO's kit."Sinker considered that, his expression pained, but he nodded. "I-- that might be safest for you both," he answered, which was no real answer at all.Vokara stepped in closer, reaching out to catch Sinker's chin and tip his head up gently. "We are no strangers to risk," she told him, watching the way his hands tightened almost convulsively around fistfuls of the thin mattress he rested on. "We are healers and medics. If we felt it was too dangerous to be around you, we would not be here. You are not going to hurt us, Sinker."Sinker gulped and nodded. "Alright," he said in a small voice. "Use the sedatives. I-- I don't want to risk you. Either of you. I felt-- out of control."Splint gave Sinker's nape a comforting squeeze, then left the room to retrieve a new hemosampling kit and the sedatives. Vokara seated herself on the edge of the bed, determined to drive home her message that she was not in danger and also not to be feared."Have you noticed any other strange changes?" she asked him as she reached out on the Force to try to soothe the ragged edges of Sinker's lingering distress. "Do those changes to your teeth bother you?"Sinker blinked up at her. "My teeth?" He ran his tongue over them, testing, exploring, and looked unnerved by what he found."I didn't-- didn't realise that they'd changed," he answered, sounding calmer and leaning into her touch in the Force, "so I-- I guess they don't bother me."She felt him calming incrementally, saw the relief in every line of his body. Good. The poor Vod needed the succour.Splint reentered the room, then, supplies in hand, and offered them to her without a word. Once she took them, he busied himself with cleaning up the remnants of the destroyed kit that she'd ignored in favour of comforting Sinker.Sinker looked down at the supplies in her hands, swallowed hard, and closed his eyes, lying back down on the medbed.Vokara didn't move; the Vod still felt like a bruise in the Force. "Are you sure, Sinker?" she asked him gently. "We don't have to rush.""Just knock me out," he answered. "I'm half hoping that this is all a horrible dream."Rather than contradict that and steal away whatever comfort and hope he derived from the thought, she gently pried open and picked up his left hand, then just held it between her own. "You're safe," she reminded him, feeling the tension in him pick up with each moment she held his hand, until she could tell he was fighting not to do... something. "We've got you. Even if it isn't a dream, remember that. We've got you."Splint, as quick on the uptake as ever, backed her up seamlessly. "Morut'yc, vod'ika," he added quietly. "Mhi gar hukaat'kama."Sinker just nodded again, his tension only lessening slightly. "Ni suvari," he answered. "Ke nari."She might not be fluent in mando'a by a long shot -- she wasn't the quick study of languages that Kenobi was, or as dedicated to picking the language up as Plo -- but she understood that much. Smoothing away the ragged edges of Sinker's stress again, letting him relax enough to lie back down on the bed, Vokara caught Splint's eyes and nodded. He nodded back, and quickly administered the sedative.Sinker flinched when the hypo touched his skin, tensing right back up briefly, but he forced himself to relax, not to fight its effects, and gratefully let it drag him under into a state approximating sleep. It didn't take long. The drug they'd picked was fast-acting, and strong enough to drop an eopie in its tracks, if needed.Splint moved to present his Vod's arm and hold it steady for her. "Take the samples, and be quick. He probably won't react badly, while he's under, but let's not take any unnecessary risks."Opening the kit without a word, she prepared the phials and the needle, breaking the sterile seals on the packaging. "I hope the others aren't showing the same reactions as Sinker," she replied quietly as she inserted the needle and Sinker twitched hard, reacting even unconsciously. Vokara was glad Splint had had the forethought to keep Sinker from moving and accidentally tearing the needle back out.She taped it down and started quickly taking what they needed. It luckily wasn't much. Three phials, filled, capped, and sealed, the needle removed again, and a brief application of the Force to ensure the tiny puncture wound was fully clotted, and that was that. Splint let Sinker go the moment they were finished, and hurried out of the room to start the tests.Vokara waited a few moments, watching as Sinker shifted restlessly, and soothed him a last time, before she left, herself, running her hand gently through his messy hair and calming him as she'd seen the Vod'e do for their friends so often. "You're alright, Vod," she said softly, "relax, rest. Sleep, if you can."When she exited the room herself, finally satisfied that Sinker was stable and able to let go of some of the awful stress he was under, she walked right into an interrogation."Sooo," Tranq said, drawing out the vowel, as he did his best to stare Carver down, "how'd it go?"Carver, undaunted, just moved to set down the samples he'd managed to collect on the preparation table. "Fine," he answered, entirely without inflection. "Velvet is mostly calm, though he seems to have undergone changes at least as drastic as those his batchers experienced. He's exhibiting signs of hypersensitivity to light, sound, and smell. Even with the lights on their dimmest setting, he reacted as though blinded, and needed to cover his eyes with his hands."It was just as well that someone had managed to get Commander Wolffe out of the room, considering the contents of this discussion, Vokara thought to herself. "We observed similar changes in Sinker, though he was clearly significantly more distressed," she interjected and watched Carver slot that knowledge away. She could tell he was a bit smug. Satisfied in a way that she associated with sex and pleasure. That was interesting.After a moment, Carver went on. "Velvet also had an unusual reaction to my use of the hemosampling kit. He complained of being thirsty, but drinking water didn't change that, and we discovered his hypersensitivity to smell when I took the necessary blood sample. He complained that the scent was overwhelming."That also sounded uncomfortably close to the reaction that Sinker had had. Albeit far calmer. Was it because of the difference in relationship between Splint and Sinker versus Velvet and Carver? Everyone knew the pair of them were kriff buddies. Velvet was very vocal about how much he liked getting Carver into bed with him. That kind of interaction signified a level of trust and intimacy that was difficult to match."Did he also have changes to his teeth?" Splint asked, his expression matching his tired tone of voice.Carver eyed him for a moment and nodded. "He has developed fangs, though we managed to determine that they aren't present all the time. They seem to appear and disappear depending on his emotional state."She hadn't noticed anything like that in Sinker, but that was perhaps due to the Vod's distress. She made a note to check on that later. "That isn't a phenomenon that we observed, Carver," she said, "but given how closely their symptoms match up, I suspect Sinker's will, as well.""If the pattern holds, they should. We seem to have two of each type of alteration," Kix pointed out. "Two sets of tentacles, two sets of additional genitalia, and now two of whatever this is."Kix's second, Storm, scowled. "I still want to know how in the kriffing name of the Force that ... whatever the kriff it was kriffing altered them on what seems to be a genetic level. Not even modern gene therapy methods can do that as effectively and completely as it did."Vokara shrugged. "When it comes to the Force, often one is limited only by belief. Much of what Anakin and Obi-Wan have pulled off over the course of the last few years would have been thought impossible before the War, and yet you've witnessed their feats for yourself."Storm's scowl intensified. "Still osik. Defying the laws of kriffing physics," he grumbled to himself.Vokara hid her amusement. "The difficulties we face are not ours to choose, Vod'e. We must help these six with their emotional reactions to what has happened," -- that was painfully clear after she'd seen how Sinker was all but falling to pieces -- "and attempt to find a way to either reverse what has happened or determine how best to accommodate the changes in these Vod'e, should they be permanent.""Kriff, I hope they're not permanent," Pixie muttered, running a stressed hand through his hair. His usually neat undercut, carefully dyed in 25th SCUBA maroon and normally kept tied back in a ponytail, was a mess of tangles, the elastic nowhere to be seen. Vokara couldn't help but wonder if he'd snapped it, taking his hair down and putting it back up one too many times. She set aside the idle thought as he went on. "Not even General Fisto, who was very karking good at getting into trouble, ever managed anything like this. What are we supposed to do now?""Now," Flutter put in, a bit acerbically, "we run those samples you all managed to collect."Tranq took that as his cue and went back to staring down Carver. "I see you managed to gather a sperm sample, in addition to the required blood.""He jerked himself off," Carver said simply, still deadpan.Kix snickered. "And you watched, huh?"Carver turned to glare at Kix, who smirked back, unbothered. Most of the others watched the showdown with a metaphorical bucket of popped grains. Flutter was silently rolling his eyes at them all.Tranq took the offered opening without hesitation. "No wonder it's such a... copious sample," he said with an impressed whistle.Snickering, Vokara decided to weigh in. "He's not the only Vod who enjoys an audience, you know."Several delighted cackles answered her. Carver simply said, "I don't kiss and tell. Flutter, once we've determined whether these changes are contagious or not, we should make sure that these Vod'e have someone nearby to hug."Flutter considered that. "Their batchers or our Corries?""Whichever you think is more likely to take the changes calmly," Carver said firmly. "That probably means Corries, but it's also likely their batchers or squadmates will need reassuring as well. Commander Wolffe is particularly on edge."Kix snorted loudly. "We can just call in Commander Cody and Captain Rex to deal with him."Splint nodded. "They're good at that."Tranq poked at his comm, apparently back to being his usual businesslike self. "I'll notify them. Xyl, Pixie, and Stilts? Have you three got running those tests covered?""We'll take care of it," Stilts answered. His parting shot was a good one, though. "Maybe we should let Carver handle gathering the rest of the semen samples. He seems to be better at it than the rest of you." --- POV: Captain Rex ---He was having a har-- a difficult time, not laughing at the expression on his riduur's face."Sorry. They did what?" Cody asked his CMO, voice somehow straddling the line between incredulous and exasperated."The or'dinii'se found and kriffed around with a kriffing sith artefact," Tranq repeated, "and now we're dealing with the consequences."Pinching the bridge of his nose, Cody took a breath to steady himself. "And that means what, exactly, for the rest of us?""Until we can confirm that it's not contagious or otherwise dangerous to them or to others, the six of them are confined to the healing halls and effectively in quarantine. Your plans to track down someone who can get you realtime intel on Kyr'tsad are going to have to be put on hold while we work this internal issue, unless you have the capacity to do that all on your own. Your ex-General, one of your riduur'e, and one of your close Vod'e are all very preoccupied with this, and your ARC squad is going to be useless for the time being. I'd suggest taking a few rotations to get yourself recentered, if you need to, and keep an eye on your ARCs, pending the three Vs' release and or recovery. You'll likely have to deal with your duties on Mandalore remotely for the time being."It was Rex's turn to groan. "Just kriffing great," he muttered, put out. "More kriffing holocomm meetings. Right as we thought we might be making some progress on dealing with the huge kriffing problem that is manda'lase."Tranq huffed at him. "At least you're not dealing with the emotional aftermath of a series of non-consensual body modifications. And, on that note, you need to calm Commander Wolffe down."He was not dealing with such, personally, no, but Rex knew Kote was worried about his ARCs, even if he was strong-willed enough not to let this whole debacle freak him out like it had Wolffe. Granted, Wolffe was freaking out because two of the three affected ARC troopers were also two of the three living survivors of the battle against the Malevolence. The third being Wolffe, himself. Rex had seen the way his Vod worried over those two like they were a pair of helpless newborn loth-wolf kits, their vicious self-sufficiency and hypercompetence notwithstanding.Turning his forehead pinch into a rub of his forehead and a pained sigh, Cody pulled himself together and nodded. "Alright. We'll deal with Wolffe. Let us know if we need to help keep the other six levelled out, and how, and in the meantime, we'll just continue on as though everything was more or less normal. No need to freak out any other Vod'e with the possibility that this... whatever it is... might be communicable to them through casual contact with their batch or squadmates. As far as everyone else is concerned, it's the equivalent of a bad virus and we're going to treat it that way, until we know otherwise for kriffing certain."Cody's CMO nodded, approving. "Sounds reasonable, Commander. We'll see it done."And then he cut the comm, disappearing to get back to his own duties and leaving the pair of them to process the news. Rex couldn't help but be relieved that Torrent hadn't been involved in this latest clusterkriff."I can feel how smug you're being from here," Cody grumbled at him. "You could at least show a bit of sympathy."Stepping over to wrap his arms around Cody from behind and hook his chin over his riduur's shoulder, he enjoyed the way Cody didn't hesitate to lean back into him. Rex took the opportunity to drop a couple of kisses along the column of his riduur's neck. "How about," he suggested, "we go see what's on offer in the pasta kitchen, and then spend some time blowing off steam with Wolffe in the shower?"Cody huffed at him, but didn't protest. "I could be persuaded," he answered, but didn't pull away."Should we comm Obi-Wan and Fox and see if they're interested in joining us?""Mmm, nah," Cody answered. "But definitely later tonight."Grinning, Rex caught Cody's ear between his teeth and tugged, just a little. Just enough to suggest."Maybe," Cody said, voice dropping down into a kriffing sexy growl, "we should blow off some steam now, before we go to the kitchens."Laughing at his riduur's eagerness, Rex let go and turned Cody to face the door. "Food first, then we need to find Wolffe," he reminded Cody. "Sex after."Muttering at him about teases, Cody crossed the room and opened the door. Still snickering, Rex followed, comming Wolffe as he went.Wolffe picked up after what felt like an age, and scowled at him. "What?"Oookay, their Vod definitely needed to be hugged. And maybe sexed up. "Come join us for a snack," he said, not bothering to phrase it as a question. "I know for a fact that you forget to eat when you get stressed. Kote does, too."Wolffe's scowl deepened, and he didn't immediately agree. "My Vod'e are in the healing halls," he said instead. "I'm not going far.""Not even if we're aiming to see what's on offer in the pasta kitchen? I thought it was the Wolfpack's turn to show off this week." Rex knew that was usually a tactic that worked well. Wolffe was proud of the fact that his Vod'ike were among the current favourites for top chef, where the Vod'e pasta kitchen was concerned.Wolffe actually hesitated, debating."We won't be there long," Rex kept trying to lure him. The tactic was working. He could see it. "And it's not too far from the healing halls, either.""Argh, fine," Wolffe gave in.Success. Rex hid his grin. "Meet you there? Kote and I are on our way."Without a word, Wolffe cut the connection, but Rex was pretty sure he'd show. If he didn't, Rex decided, he'd sicc Cody on the stubborn shabuir."Well?" Cody asked, easily able to tell when he was done with the comm call."He didn't agree in so many words, but he should be here soon," Rex answered.Cody accepted that without comment, and led the way into the pasta kitchen and its attached dining hall. The space was about half full, knots of Vod'e occupying the tables spread throughout the space, most of them mixed groups incorporating Vod'e from different battalions. Rex was fairly certain most of them were batchmate groups.They were all carefully not focusing on the stressed ARCs huddled around a table in the corner, not wanting to intrude on what was obviously an explosive mixture of fear-anger-frustration and accidentally provoke a fight. A mix of 212th gold and 104th steel-grey accents, the lot of them looked miserable. Rex was tempted to call his ARCs and ask them to hug all fourteen of those or'dinii'se.Maybe he would, once he was sure Kote had Wolffe settled. It wouldn't be easy to get them to accept the help, but those ARCs clearly needed some support.While he'd considered the issue, Kote had decided to simply act, turning toward the group and approaching their huddle.With a mental shrug, Rex gave in to the inevitable. Kote never had been able to ignore a Vod in distress, even while in the midst of combat, and those were his ARCs. Some of the Vod'e closest to him, really. Rather than follow Cody to the table, though, he turned toward the counter, where large containers for food were set out, buffet style.Filling himself a plate and making one for Cody as well, he hesitated. There was no doubt in his mind that the lot of those ARCs hadn't eaten. Or, perhaps more accurately, hadn't been able to force themselves to eat enough, judging by the scattering of bowls and utensils around them.Once he had the requisite two plates in hand for himself and his riduur, he hesitated. It would have been better to--"Need a hand?" Tack asked him, breaking into his thoughts and almost managing to make him jump.He'd been too absorbed in his worries to notice the Vod's approach. Rex turned to face him -- and the rest of the Corrie ARC squad -- and simply asked, "With?""With the plates that you were clearly planning to bring over to that table of misery," Tack answered with a shrug.Not about to look a gift eopie in the mouth, even as he wondered how in the kriff Tack had been able to guess his plan so easily, Rex nodded. "Please. There's no way any of them actually ate enough."From behind Tack, Orca spoke up. "You're not wrong about that, Captain. We'll get them fed. You focus on your riduur."Rex scoffed. "Wolffe needs the attention more, right now.""Point stands," Fox's ARC Captain, Kor, parried. "We'll handle the Wolfpack. You and your riduur get to wrangle the Ghosts.""Cody and I will be handling Wolffe," he pointed out drily. "He's taking this badly. You might have to sicc Ghost and the Wolfpack on each other."Kor snorted and a couple of his ARCs snickered. "Noted.""We could always try to corral them into a big cuddle pile," Waves said, and turned to start putting together two boxed meals, himself. Rex eyed him for a moment before it clicked: the Corries planned to start that cuddle pile immediately, rather than after the others had eaten. As he worked, Waves continued talking. "That usually works pretty well on both Ghost and the Wolfpack."Rex had to concede the point with a nod. "Here's hoping that it also works this time," he answered, and turned toward the table of miserable ARCs. Kote was doing his best to cajole them into conversation. Probably prodding them into gossiping, if Rex was any judge. That was another tactic that usually worked very well.He put his plate down in the empty seat at Kote's left, and put the other in front of his riduur, who picked up his utensil and took a bite without even looking to see what he was eating. "Mmhmm," Kote agreed with whoever had been talking. Fixer, judging by who Cody was looking at."And I heard that-- that Padawan-Commander Fox is in the running to win this year's Order's Most Wanted competition," Rogue, one of the Wolfpack's ARCs, put in with a pale attempt at a smile.Rex blinked. The Order's senior padawans held a once yearly vote to determine who among the adults in the different skill groups was the one they most wanted to get in bed with. Master Fisto was a perennial winner among the masters, though Master Windu and Obi-Wan were consistently in the top five. But Fox?Cody raised an eyebrow at the Vod. "That's... unexpected."Demir, Wolffe's ARC Captain, snorted. "You're telling us," he agreed, warming to the topic and losing a little bit of the lingering tension in his shoulders. "We'd have thought it'd be just about anyone else, really.""You've seen just how... interested... some of the jetiise can get about the Vod'e, though," Leure jumped in. "Knight Issador is sure enthusiastic about her ARC."Roc, sitting next to Rogue, snickered, gradually calming himself. "How much longer do you think she'll wait before she asks him to say the riduurok?""That's for us to know and you to wonder about," Tack said firmly as he appeared behind Roc, making the Vod in grey jump.Fixer and Cinder snickered, that time, clearly enjoying the look on Roc's face. Rex almost wished he'd brought a container of popped grains."Sir!" Demir stood, abruptly. "I thought you said you'd be--""Rex decided otherwise," Wolffe said in a near growl from just behind Rex and to his right.Without bothering to turn, Rex suggested, "Get yourself a plate and come join us properly, Wolffe."Muttering about stubborn ARC Captains, Wolffe stomped off. Kote stared after Wolffe for a beat. "He's upset."The whole table of ARCs, and the Corries around them, rolled their eyes at him for the remark. Rex couldn't really disagree. That was pretty obvious to any Vod with eyes. "You are, too," he said instead."Our whole Companies are," Ink said, and sighed. "The frustrating thing is not being able to help.""But you will," Kor pointed out, "just as soon as the medics allow you to."He sounded as though that was simply a given. That all it would take was time. Rex almost envied him that level of conviction.It seemed to help Ghost's ARCs, though. They all nodded, determination appearing on nearly all of their faces and relief colouring the rest. The Wolfpack's ARCs reacted similarly. Tack took the opportunity to shove a boxed up meal into Ink's hands. "Come on, Vod'e," he said, just as firm and calm as his Captain. "We're getting you all someplace safe, and then we're all going to have a good cuddle pile."Demir sized him up. "You expect us to just... what? Forget that our Vod'e are hurt and need our support but can't have it?"Kor and Waves scoffed, the sounds overlapping. Kor squared his shoulders and planted his feet. "We expect you to save your fight for when it's actually needed, and let us help you out in the meantime. We've... got experience dealing with this kind of thing. Might as well use it to get you all back on your feet, so you can do the same for your hurt Vod'e."Rex flinched, unpleasantly reminded of just how the Corries had gotten that experience, but made sure he kept his mouth carefully shut about that. Beside him, Kote and Rogue stifled similar reactions.Rather than acknowledge the bantha in the room, though, Kote showed off just how good he was at powering through unpleasant situations. He caught his ARC troopers' eyes, one by one, holding them for a moment, then weighed in, knowing just how much his words meant to the troopers around and serving under him. "Go with them, Vod'e," he said quietly, once he was sure he had their attention. "They're right about, well, all of it. And I can't exactly hug all of you at once."The joke, terrible though it was, got him a couple of quiet huffs of amusement, but Fixer nodded, taking the lead. "Not when you have Commander Wolffe to deal with," he joked back. Then, a bit reluctantly, he nodded. "Alright, Commander," he agreed. "But it's not gonna be so easy to just shut off the worry."Demir muttered something under his breath, then stood up, taking a box from Swift. "Everything about this is awful," he said grumpily."We know," Orca reminded him, shoving a boxed up meal at Fixer, in his turn. "But this is what Vod'e do for each other. You and your Commander have always had our backs, even back when we were still unwilling to believe that was the case. It's our turn to do that for you all."The rest of Ghost's ARCs stood, and stepped over to join Captain Demir and the Corries. It took a moment, stubbornness warring with the need to accept what the Corries were offering, before the Wolfpack's ARCs joined their Captain as well. No hesitation in them at all, the Corries immediately started herding their chosen charges out of the room, leaving Cody and Rex to stay where they were and wait for Wolffe to hurry the kriff up and finally rejoin them.“Do you think we’ll be able to get him to relax enough to sleep?” Rex asked Cody quietly.“That’s the plan. Get him fed, then drag him into bed.”Rex gave his riduur a suggestive grin.Kote rolled his eyes and nudged Rex with his shoulder. “As much as I’d like to, that’s likely not in the cards tonight. He’ll probably do better with just cuddling until we all sleep.”That would be the ideal outcome. Given the dark circles under Wolffe’s eyes that Rex could spy as he approached, it might not even be that hard.“Well,” Wolffe snapped at them once he got in conversation range. “Now what?”Since they knew beyond a doubt that Wolffe was just being bitchy on reflex, too stressed by the situation not to snap, they both ignored the tone.“Come on,” Kote said, steering them all out of the refectory. “Food and then bed.”Wolffe cursed them under his breath but he followed along easily enough.Good. That was one less worry to deal with. Maybe Wolffe and Kote would help even each other out.-- --- POV: Kuo'ran Wren ---"They what." Kuo carefully resisted the urge to pinch at the bridge of his nose."They got themselves into the kind of trouble that requires a multi-rotation stay in quarantine," Lun'dar repeated herself.Taking a steadying breath, Kuo did his best to shove his dismay into a box. "Just kriffing great. I kriffing hate holocomm meetings. Why. Why does this always happen?"Laughing at him -- his second was enjoying his pain a little too kriffing much -- Lun'dar suggested, "You could always head back to Sundari and take part in the meetings from there?"Sina snickered at them. "Or we could just wait out the three or four rotations until those ori'ramikad'e are free of their healers' clutches.""Don't even kriffing think about jinxing it," Kuo told his second with a pointed glare. "Don't challenge the galaxy to make things worse."Lun'dar laughed harder. "'Lek, ver'alor."Turning and stalking into the room he'd claimed for his own, Kuo silenced his comm and scrubbed at his face. His hands on the edge of the desk in the room, he leaned his weight on his palms and let his head hang for a moment with a pained sigh before he forced some beskar into his spine. "At least it wasn't the alor or his riduur'e getting into trouble, this time. Manda help me."--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: ARC Trooper Vector ---Vector didn’t have very long to wait alone in his room before someone came in to see him.Must be keeping an eye on my vitals. He eyed the medical equipment around him uneasily.Before Medic Rayn could say anything, Vector jumped in with, “Why am I in medical? What the kriff happened? Why does my head feel like I slammed it into a bulk head and my stomach feel like I got kicked with ice cleats? And where the kriff are my batchers?”He hadn’t quite needed to say that last question as intensely as he had… he was maybe feeling a little stressed.Rayn gave him a sympathetic look and took a seat next to the bed that Vector had woken up on.“You and a group of other ARCs went cave diving deep in the Temple, touched something stupid, and had something stupid happen to you. What, we don’t know. It’s Force osik. Your batchers are fine, the other ARCs you went with are fine…” Rayn grimaced. “But all of you have been genetically altered in some way. None of it appears to be… damaging. As far as we can tell. The changes are jarring, though.”That didn’t bode well.Vector rubbed his lower stomach and grimaced.“Altered,” he said numbly. “How?”“Congratulations, ARC Trooper Vector, you now have a vagina,” Rayn said, totally deadpan.Vector stared at him.And then stared some more.“You’re shitting me,” Vector said, equally deadpan.“I assure you, I am not.”They stared at each other for a minute longer.
Wait, if I have a… does that mean that my dick…?!
Vector scrambled to feel around his groin. He let out a huff of relief when he felt his dick there, right where he left it. Force, he'd never thought that he’d have to worry about losing that.“Thank kriff,” he breathed out.Rayn looked at him with mild amusement. “Everything else seems to be normal. We’re guessing that the headache is from whatever nonsense caused all this, and I’m betting that your stomach ache is from your newly installed organ. Just to be sure, we need to run some tests.”Vector sighed. “Of course you do.”The next twenty minutes were both tedious and mildly unpleasant. Vector got poked and prodded, scanned and questioned. He got to see various images of his insides, which was interesting. There surely was a whole karking womb inside of him and a hole to go with it.“No ovaries, though,” Rayn mused.“Thank the Force. Last thing I want is to spawn,” Vector muttered.The silence after that statement was telling. Rayn looked shiftily off to his datapad where he’d been compiling notes.“Rayn,” Vector said in a warning tone. “I can’t spawn, can I?”After taking a deep inhale, Rayn turned to him and grimaced. “We don’t know.”Kark.“You certainly can’t breed with a baseline human,” Rayn offered, “... but your batchers also got some… interesting body modifications. You may be able to breed with them.”“Wait, they didn’t get vaginas, too?” That was a little unfair. Vector had already been mulling over what it might be like to experiment with all of them suddenly having more holes than usual.Rayn shook his head. “The only reason I’m telling you this is because I know that you three tell each other everything, anyways.” Obviously. Vector nodded his head along to encourage Rayn to hurry the kriff up and explain. “Vere’s dick has grown into some kind of a tentacle. It can move on its own.” Rayn checked his datapad. “Latest intel is that we think he might also be able to lay eggs.”Vector’s jaw dropped.He had no idea what to say to that.Though… a tentacle could be a lot of fun.… And there certainly were some pretty damn entertaining toys that simulated egg laying for recreational purposes. Not that Vector had ever had much of a chance to test them, or desire, really. Now… maybe. Getting filled up did pretty much always feel nice.But eggs meant breeding.Vector held back a grimace.If he had to pick anyone to raise a child with, it would be Vere and Velvet. Assuming a tentacle egg would even make a sentient child and not… something else.Which reminded him… if he’d grown -- implanted? Manifested? -- a vagina, and Vere had gotten a new and improved tentacle dick, what had happened to Velvet?When no answer was forthcoming, Vector gave Rayn a prod of his own. “Velvet?”Rayn sighed quietly. “That’s more complicated. Carver just got finished with the initial debrief with him,” -- Carver was an interesting choice, but that would make sense if Tranq was busy with Vere -- “and his modifications are subtler than yours. His teeth have been altered. He’s suffering from increased sensitivity with all of his senses, and no not in a fun sexy way.” That was delivered with a glare.Vector’s reflexive leer turned to a grimace. His poor Vod.“He’s having some unusual reactions to blood, on top of the other physical symptoms.” Rayn shook his head. “We’re not sure what to make of it. The other ARCs you went exploring with are in a similar situation, though as far as I can see they’re taking it worse.”They’d been with other ARCs? Vector squinted as he tried to remember what had happened the prior night. There had been a latemeal with some Wolfpack Vod’e...“Regor, Boost, and Sinker,” Rayn supplied. “All of you are experiencing short term memory loss…” He raised an eyebrow at Vector. Vector nodded, acknowledging that he was in the same boat. “Right. So we’re kind of piecing together what happened. As far as we can tell, you all found something deep in the lower levels of the Temple that did this to you. Captain Vere managed to get his emergency beacon activated in his armor. By the time we found you all, the six of you were unconscious. We’re keeping you all quarantined for now to make sure whatever this is doesn’t spread.”“Sensible,” Vector said. Even if it is depressing. He wanted his batchers near him, for cuddling if not a soothing blowjob or something.Rayn tapped out a few more notes and then gave Vector a grim look. “There’s one other thing we need to check.”That really didn’t bode well. The medics never got cagey like that unless something was really wrong.“What?” Vector asked.“We’d like to give your new vagina an examination. It will feel similar to a prostate exam… I would guess.” Rayn shrugged.Vector’s frown got even grumpier. If Vere had been there he would have said that Vector was sulking. This situation felt like it deserved a little sulk. Bleh. All that inserting things into holes and there wouldn’t even be an orgasm afterwards.Unless Vector was able to get to see Vere or Velvet sometime soon, anyways.“I don’t get a happy ending afterwards either, do I,” Vector grumbled, already removing the blanket covering his lap.“Not from me, but I’d be happy to take a sperm sample when you’re done helping yourself out,” Rayn said pragmatically.Well. Maybe that wasn’t so bad.“Leave the lube when you’re done,” Vector said.“Sir, yes, sir.”After some shifting around, Vector got in position for Rayn to do what he needed to.Rayn moved to stand at the end of the bed so that he could be between Vector’s legs. There, he hesitated a moment.“You… you can put your hands on yourself and feel along with me,” he offered. “I can only imagine how disorienting this must be. It might be helpful for you to investigate a little yourself while I’m here.” Then he closed his eyes and sighed. “I am not inviting you to jerk off in front of me, just to clarify.” Disappointing. “I’m just saying that this may feel weird and you might want a medic here as you do the initial exploration.”That… actually sounded really good. Between the aching head and guts, and the overwhelming feeling of being not himself, Vector had been doing a pretty decent job of shoving off his existential dread. He’d had a whole new karking sex organ shoved into him. Somehow. What the kriff.“Yeah.” Vector let out a long sigh of relief. “Yeah, that would be good. I’ll just… can we--”Rayn listened attentively while Vector marshalled his thoughts.“Can we get a mirror or something so I can see what’s going on down there?” Vector asked.“Absolutely. Just give me a minute.”While Rayn got that set up, Vector did his best to not panic. At the same time, he took stock of himself with one hand.
Yep, dick feels the same. Balls too. Legs are in place. None of that hurts. Then…
His brain stuttered a bit as he felt moist lips.He had a very quick memory flash of his time with Knight Issador. They’d all had so much fun, and they’d learned so much.Now he could feel the similarities, even if he couldn’t really see them because of how his dick was situated.“Rayn, why am I wet? I thought that was only supposed to happen when I’m turned on. Or when a vagina is turned on?” Vector had no idea how to talk about this. He was so confused. And more than a little disturbed.Meanwhile, he was still carefully feeling around this new opening. Two sets of lips, just like Issador. Hole in the middle.“You’re not wet, you’re slightly damp,” Rayn corrected. “We medics all brushed up on this particular organ back when we integrated into the Temple and then again when the initial scans came back on you all. So I can say with good authority that a little moisture is appropriate. Your tissues there are supposed to be a little moist. You may or may not produce actual self lubrication.”Now that had some promise. Vector surely did enjoy getting dripping wet with precome. Maybe the same thing would be fun with his new body parts.Also, now he’d be able to take Vere and Velvet together but with each of them having their own hole! That wasn’t his mouth.Logistics of various sex acts reeled through his brain.“You ready for me to do the exam?” Rayn asked.“I guess,” Vector said, feeling flustered and unhappy… and maybe also a little turned on.“Alright. I’m about to touch you…”The next several minutes were less exciting than Vector had hoped. Rayn was professional, which was expected. The feeling of his fingers inside of Vector in a different way than normal was… mostly just weird. Kind of good? Maybe could be good if he was more turned on?“As far as I can tell, everything looks… healthy.” Rayn added that last word on with some exasperation, clearly unsure of what else to say. “If you want to get yourself off, I know we’d love some samples. I don’t particularly want to watch, but I will if you’re more comfortable.”Vector tried out a leer, but even he could tell that it was half-hearted at best.“When will I get to see Vere and Velvet?” he asked instead.“When we are certain that none of whatever you all will get up to will spread to anyone else,” Rayn answered dryly. “Which reminds me, have an updated contraceptive hypo.”Vector snorted in amusement.Rayn administered the hypo and then proceeded to update his datapad and put away the various equipment. He left out the mirror, which was nice of him.“We can’t let you see your Vod’e in person yet, but you could holocomm them,” Rayn offered.
Oh Force, yes please.
Just hearing their voices would be reassuring. Besides, Vector damn well knew that Vere was adept at dirty talk. Maybe they could waste a little time that way.“Yes.” Vector made grabby hands at Rayn.“You should talk to Captain Vere first,” Rayn said, solemnly handing over a comm. “He’s taking his modifications a little harder than you.”With that ominous statement, Rayn set up the room’s small holocomm and attempted to contact Vere.The frequency took a worryingly long amount of time to connect.Eventually, Vere’s worried face projected up out of the comm unit. “Vector,” he said, sounding a hair shy of panicked and at least partially relieved.“Vere.” Vector slumped onto his bed as some of the tension drained out of him. “Thank kriff.”“Agreed,” Vere said quietly. He had that little line in between his eyebrows that said he was unhappy and worried. Vector wanted to hug him until he felt better.Both of them reflexively looked down at their respective parts.“Wow,” Vector said, unsure of what else to say.“Yeah.” Vere sounded worn to a thread. “Do you know what the worst part of having a tentacle dick is, Vod?”“No?” Vector arched his eyebrows up as he stared at Vere with concern.“It is disconcertingly difficult to pee,” Vere said in a low growl. “The thing moves on its own! Which would be fun in some situations, but Force kriff it, sometimes I need it to just be still. That, apparently, is possible, as long as I am concentrating on it, but when the kriff was the last time you concentrated specifically on peeing in a very particular way?”Vector opened his mouth to respond and simply ended up sitting there with his mouth open. He had no idea. Peeing was just… point and go. Maybe back when he’d first learned to use a ‘fresher…?“I… uh…” Vector stared at Vere in horror.Vere only looked vindicated. “Exactly. Never. I hold on to it to point it, and it just… does its own thing. Exploring my legs, I guess. And when I think about grabbing something, it tries to grab it too if it’s in range, which, again, could be very fun at some point in the hopefully near future but right now that means if my mind wanders about whether or not I need to wipe, my dick tries to grab something for me to wipe with!”Vere looked like he was about to tear out his hair.“I am so sorry,” Vector said. The second-hand frustration was real. Maybe a distraction would be in order. “... Does it feel the same? Do you have the same amount of sensation?”That seemed to settle Vere a little. Nothing like some sex talk to get him thinking straight.“Yes and no. Still very sensitive. Smooth, which is both nice and mildly disappointing. Suckers would have been a fun sensation for any of my partners.” Vere looked down as he spoke, obviously examining himself in real time. “Coloring is about the same. I haven’t tried jerking off yet. I’m vaguely worried to try.”Yeah. Vector could see why. “I heard you have eggs?” he half-asked.“Apparently.” Vere sounded very Done with everything. “They’re somewhere inside my lower abdomen and, in theory, will come out. Somehow. Since the thought of squeezing anything out of my dick hole sounds like actual torture, I’m really not sure how to feel about this.”Vector grimaced. Vere’s reluctance was understandable. They’d all experimented with sounds. None of them had liked it enough to try more than once or twice, and that was with very thin rods. Vector couldn’t really picture what it would feel like for a whole egg to come through.“Wait, how big are the eggs?” Vector asked. “Because that could feel amazing for whoever you’re implanting.”Rayn snorted off to the side. Right. Vector had forgotten he was standing there. Well, whatever. They’d have to tell the medics all of this stuff anyways.“From the scans they look to be about half the size of my fist. Maybe a little smaller.”So they were substantial.“Any idea what’s in the eggs?” Vector had to ask.“We won’t know until I lay some.”“Huh.” Vector looked into the mirror and contemplated his brand new cunt. “Well… I don’t particularly want my own ad’ike... but I do have a place to put an egg. Rayn gave me a contraceptive, so maybe we could just… not fertilize them?”Vector couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. This was a very strange pre-sex negotiation and that was really saying something for him.“I got an updated shot too,” Vere said. “No one really knows if it will work. Tranq suggested I jerk off first to see if they can get some baseline samples before we risk actual intercourse.”“So hands and mouths only,” Vector mused.Vere nodded. He was still staring down with dismay.“Have you talked with Velvet?” Vector asked.“Not yet,” Vere said. “Tranq said that he’s not feeling himself. They aren’t sure what’s going on with him and they want to keep him secluded for a bit longer. Carver is with him.”That was something at least. Carver would take care of their Vod.They fell into an unhappy silence after that.“Want to jerk off together?” Vector offered for lack of anything better to do.“Yes,” Vere said immediately.“And that’s my cue to leave,” Rayn said dryly. “Please keep the sensors attached to your body when you do that, be careful, use lots of lube, and for kriff’s sake don’t stick anything up inside yourself other than your fingers. I think you six have done enough spelunking for all of us this year.”While Vere was laughing at that, Rayn showed himself out.Which was fine, because Vector already had a hand on his dick.“You get started, I need a minute to get settled,” Vere said.“Already on it,” Vector replied.Mmm. This always felt nice. “Wish this was your hand on me,” Vector said as he stroked himself off.“You have your fingers on your pretty new cunt, Vod?” Vere asked as he settled himself down on his bed.Right. That was a thing he could do.Vector reached down. Then he figured out that he maybe needed a pillow or something. “The placement is a little awkward,” he admitted.“Don’t worry. As soon as we get out of here, I’ll make sure that Velvet and I give you all the attention you want,” Vere said in that tone of voice that always made Vector shiver. “How many fingers can you get inside of yourself?”Vector started with one. He blinked in surprise. “I’m wet,” he said. He took a moment to rub the thick fluid into his folds. “Different from precome. Very thick.”Smoothing that fluid around his groin felt very karking nice. He fluttered his eyes closed and let out a soft sigh.“That’s right. Get wet for me, Vector.”From what Vector could see, Vere was working his own hand on his cock, though it wasn’t quite in the holo projection. That was a pity. Vector wanted to see it.As much as he wanted to watch every second of Vere’s sex face, he couldn’t stop looking at himself in the mirror. His holes looked so red and slick. Kriff, he could fit a finger in his cunt with no problems.“Oh kriff,” he said, inhaling in surprise. “Really tender down there. Oof.”“I want you to take it nice and slow for me,” Vere said. “Rub yourself all over. Remember how we teased Knight Issador, edged her for an hour?”Vector absolutely remembered. They’d all taken turns fingering her and eating her out until she couldn’t hold still. That was a very good memory.Heat flushed through Vector’s body as he squirmed in place. “I want to jerk off my dick, too, but at the same time I don’t,” he said.“Yeah, let’s take that pretty cunt for a drive,” Vere said. “Show me your hand. I want to see you lick your own slick.”Vere always had the best ideas.Vector reached down, trying to scoop some of that thick fluid out of his own hole. When he brought his hand up, there were thick strings of slick strung between his fingers.“What do you smell like, Vector?” Vere asked quietly. There was a low, rhythmic rubbing sound coming from the comm.Vector held his hand to his face. “Sex,” he said. He couldn’t help but lick his lips. All the while, he had to squeeze down on his cock with his other hand. He needed the extra stimulation so badly.“Go on. Show me how delicious you are.”Slowly, Vector put his fingers in his mouth and sucked. Force, he wished Velvet was here. His Vod was a master with his tongue. Just thinking about how Velvet might eat him out made Vector’s cunt clench down hard.“Ohh,” he said, muffled around the salty-musky fingers in his mouth. That felt good. He flexed his muscles again. Shit, if there was something -- someone -- inside of him, he’d be clenching down so hard on them.“Good,” he said after he finally finished licking the slick off of his first two fingers. “Tastes good. Different. Not bitter at all.” He ran his tongue around his mouth. “Thick.”“Kriff, yes. I knew you would taste so kriffing good,” Vere said. Sweat glistened on his chest and he was breathing a little hard. His arm worked back and forth just out of sight. “Go on. Put your fingers back in your hole. Can’t wait to fill you up. With my hand. With my dick. With both Velvet and I together…”Vector went back to rubbing his newly acquired hole, faster and faster. He wasn’t getting enough sensation. “Feels good, Vere, but it’s not enough. Either gotta get something inside of me or play with my dick.”His dick was positively throbbing with need.“Ohhh, you need us inside of you, don’t you?” Vere was panting now. “If only I could get my hands on you, I’d make you scream and then give Velvet his shot. Pass you back and forth between us until you’re ready to pass out from all the pleasure.”Vector was rubbing himself off so fast that his cunt was making a soft squish-squish-squish-squish noise. “Vere, please,” he begged.“Give your dick a squeeze,” Vere ordered. “Just one.”Vector immediately complied. That was enough to have him arching up his back as he moaned with need. “Good, Vere. So good. Want you inside of me. Want Velvet’s mouth on me. Wanna fuck something. I need it. Please.”“I know. Be good and squeeze yourself again,” Vere said. He sounded out of breath. “Up and down. Make sure to work as much of your hand inside of you as you can. Come on, I want you to reach. Be a good Vod and I’ll reward you as soon as we meet up in person.”Vere always made good on his promises, much to their mutual pleasure.Vector followed Vere’s commands with great enjoyment. Vere knew just how to make him come and the new equipment didn’t seem to make a difference in that.Wetness dripped out of Vector’s cunt, flowing down to the point where he felt it cover his asshole. If someone else had been there, Vector really could have both holes filled.It was that thought along with a sharp upward stroke on his dick that finally managed to get Vector off. He grunted as he came. The regular jerking shots of spend that came out of his dick were accompanied by full body waves of pleasure as he tightened over and over.He didn’t want to stop. Couldn’t stop. Everything felt too good. The rest of the world fell away as he frantically rubbed himself off.Just as his initial orgasm crested, he heard that lovely punched-out sound of Vere coming.While Vector’s dick felt tender and easily over stimulated, he felt like he could keep going with his cunt. So he did. He kept working himself over, faster and faster, feeling up his balls and his shaft as he did so. Vere’s low, encouraging voice hummed in his ears.It took a ridiculously short amount of time for him to come again. Maybe five minutes. Then that full body pulsing bliss roared through him again.When he finally let out his last gasp, Vector ended up just laying there, spent and euphoric.“Kriff, you’re beautiful,” Vere crooned at him. “We’re gonna make you feel so good. You’re gonna come so many times.”Vector didn’t really have it in him to do anything but pant. His cock felt tender. His vaginal opening felt puffy and a little sore. And kriff, he was so wet. He remembered how wet Issador had gotten when they’d been at it for a while. This seemed similar.“Well that was fun,” Vector finally said.“Mmmm agreed,” Vere replied. When Vector looked up at him, Vere was sporting that smug smirk of his. “I can’t wait to do that to you myself.”Vector grinned at him. “Same.” Then he tilted his head in curiosity. “Did you come?”Vere’s smirk turned into a rueful grimace. “I did. Fluid, but no eggs. So… not sure when or how those come out.”Vector slithered around in his bed, rubbing himself all over a little. “Hmmm. We’ll have to work on that. Maybe you just need to be milked?”Vere closed his eyes and groaned.That was a very good reaction and Vector had plans about capitalizing on it. “Yeah. Maybe Velvet and I just need to wring you out ourselves,” Vector said in his own comm-sex voice.Vere’s eyes were dark and happy. “I look forward to it.”They basked for a moment, both carefully cleaning themselves off.“I hope Velvet is having as good a time as we are,” Vere said.“Me too,” Vector answered with a worried frown.It went without saying that neither of them really thought that he was.----- POV: Guard Trooper Drift ---Drift leaned into Tux as they waited in the Halls. Their whole squad was there, waiting at the closest lounging area they could find to where Boost and Sinker were being held.Boost and Sinker had been some of the first GAR Vod’e to try and integrate with the Guard, back at the end of the war. They’d taken the places of Shadow and Breaker when they’d been slipped off to the Temple for healing. Those had been difficult times. Drift and Tux had been shinies, newly assigned to the Guard, and even to them, Sinker and Boost had been laughably tender. Only in some ways. They were hard as beskar nails in others.Those first few months had been rough, getting everyone talking with each other again. The Wolfpack had shown up to help relieve the Guard in that last week before Palpatine’s death and afterwards they’d never stopped trying to reach out.Boost and Sinker were very nearly part of the squad now, even though they were still 104th, and now ARC troopers to boot.Captain Vere had also personally kept watch for Drift, Tux, Hound, and Boost and Sinker that day that Palpatine had died and they all got their chips removed.Because of all of that, Drift and his whole squad felt like they had a vested interest in being here for the ARCs that had been damaged deep in the Temple. No one was saying what had happened but word had spread silently through the Guard that those affected had been… modified.That was something that no Guard would take lightly. It held a special dread for them… or it had. Things were better now. They all remembered, though.So here they were, waiting until they could go find Boost, Sinker, and their Vod to go hug them.Every hour or so, Drift and Tux would wander into the treatment area to get a silent update from Flutter. To the rest of the GAR Vod’e there it probably looked like they just exchanged glances, but Guards knew how to speak with only the smallest of gestures.There were other members of the Wolfpack here waiting. Most of them had been shooed away.That was because they were karking dumb and tried to stay in the kriffing treatment hall, to be closer to their Vod’e. That was a surefire way to get kicked out, and sure enough, they had been. Only Commander Wolffe had been allowed to linger near the working healers and medics, and even he had been prodded away to go eat and rest.
But we’re the Guard. We work smarter, not harder.
Hound was busy listening to an audio drama in his bucket. Shadow and Breaker were playing a card game; something new, for two players only, rather than sabacc. Drift was content just to lean into Tux and watch people walk by. He’d managed to lure one of the Temple tookas into sitting on his lap, too, which made the wait infinitely better.Ostensibly, he and Tux were keeping watch. By now, they knew that they didn’t really need to. The Temple was fairly safe. They all felt better with a member of the squad on watch anyways.Which was why Drift tapped out a mild alert when he saw General Plo coming down the hallway.It was difficult to tell with the Kel Dor, but Drift thought he looked tired. His shoulders were slumped and his gait wasn’t quite as smooth as a Master Jedi’s normally would be.The rest of the squad didn’t come to attention, not really. They all just kind of turned their peripheral attention towards General Plo.To Drift’s mild surprise, General Plo ended up changing course and walked over to them rather than heading straight into the treatment area.“Troopers.” General Plo greeted them with a nod. “I see you are waiting for my Vod’e.” The antiox mask vocoder did little to hide the worry in his voice. His mandibles twitched and his hands were clasped in a way that looked anxious to Drift.Drift and his squad nodded. The tooka in Drift’s lap didn’t bother waking up.“Our ARCs have gone to find yours,” Hound said, taking off his bucket to speak for the group. “We know how this goes, and we know your ARCs are bound to be freaking out about their Vod’e. Non-con mods always suck. They’ll get through it, though. We’ll help.”“I see,” General Plo answered.“Can you tell us anything more about what’s happened?” Drift asked. He wasn’t anywhere near a shiny anymore but he still knew how to use his wide tooka eyes to his advantage.It seemed to work, because General Plo sighed and shook his head. “I’m afraid not, young one. Madam Nu and several others, including your own Padawan-commander Fox, are still working on the artefact that our ARCs discovered. I am here to get an update on my Vod’e, myself. I will ask a medic to let you know when they will be ready for company.”As if we didn’t already have a line on that ourselves, Drift thought with mild amusement. Still, it was a nice offer.“Thank you, sir,” he said.With a nod, General Plo headed in. Hound went back to his audiodrama and Drift went back to relaxing with Tux. They would need their emotional equilibrium for later.Not too much longer after that -- just shy of Drift’s once-per-hour check in and after General Plo had already left again -- a young Jedi healer stepped over to them and let them know that their Vod’e were ready for visitors.“Per their request, Regor, Sinker, and Boost have been moved into a joint room,” they said as the whole group walked back. “All of them are stable but distressed, with Sinker the worst off. They’ll tell you more if they want to.”That tracked. A lot of Vod’e got shy about talking about non-con mods. Better to let them talk talk about it -- or not -- at their own pace.Hound silently gave them all their marching orders. Drift and Tux were on cuddling duty with Shadow and Breaker as support, and Hound would keep watch with Grizzer.The healer left them at the door.Drift poked his head in first. “Su’cuy?”Boost and Regor were sitting in chairs next to a bed where Sinker was dead asleep. They all looked pale and miserable, but Sinker looked half-dead, with clammy skin and deep circles under his eyes.“Vod’e?” Sinker asked with a confused quirk of his eyebrows.Drift smiled at him and Tux peaked in around his shoulder to look in too.“May we come in?” Drift asked. “We’d like to help.”Regor snorted and rubbed his face. “I don’t think anything can help us, but kriff it. Why not.” He hung his head and just rested his face in his hands. Boost squirmed in his chair, arms wrapped around his chest like he was hugging himself.“I’ll go ask the medics about the needed rearrangements,” Shadow said quietly, and slipped off with Breaker. Hound settled in a chair in the hall with Grizzer wrapped around the base. Drift and Tux nodded and went inside. Everyone knew their jobs here.“Hey there, Vod’e,” Tux said as he trailed behind Drift. “Has Sinker been knocked out?”Regor nodded his head, the movement jerky and fast. “Yeah. Yeah. He wasn’t-- he-- he’s--” After a hard swallow, he looked up at Sinker. “He’s afraid and upset. Asked to be sedated for some of the tests. He’ll be out for a little while yet. Splint thought he could use the rest.”Drift and Tux both nodded.By that time, Shadow and Breaker were back with extra bedding and Splint in tow.“These jare’la di’kut’e explained that you all want to set up a cuddle pile,” Splint said.“We do?” Regor asked, eyebrows arched. He looked to Boost, who was still shivering to himself in a seat. “Yeah. No, you’re right. That’s. We should have. But Sinker needs to be hooked up and we didn’t want to… kriff.” That last word was said as a low sigh.“Don’t worry, Vod. We’ll take care of everything,” Drift said soothingly. He should have brought the tooka with him, even if the medics would have tried to kick it out. No tookas in the Halls. Bah. “We’ve got you.”With Splint’s help, they got the medical bed moved over so that it was closer to the door, putting the bulk of the empty space in the room between the bed and the wall. The sensors on Sinker were changed to remotely operated ones and his IV line was lengthened so that he could be set on the floor. Meanwhile, the Guards got a nice cuddling space ready with extra mattresses and blankets.Boost and Regor watched them with a mix of alarm and confusion.Shadow and Breaker picked Sinker up carefully and laid him down in the middle of the cleared area, while Drift and Tux got their armour off. Hound was at the door, so they didn’t really need to have anyone inside the room armoured up. They all knew that the Halls were safe, too, and their Vod’e would need the comfort of a hug.“Come on, lay down with Sinker,” Tux coaxed Boost.“I… I can’t,” Boost said brokenly. “This thing keeps moving around and what if I touch him?” He gestured at his crotch. The What if I hurt him? was heavily implied.
Oh.
This was one of those modifications. Well, that made it so much worse.Luckily, unfortunately, the Guards all had experience with that kind of thing too. A grim understanding shifted through Drift’s squad.Tux wrapped his arms around Boost’s shoulders. “We’ll get both of you so you can be near each other without anything touching that you don’t want to be touched, alright?”Tux looked at Regor, who just grimaced.“My weird shit is all inside,” Regor said with a contemptuous gesture towards his lower half. “Kind of.” He rolled his eyes and hunched farther over.“Alright,” Drift said. “Then you cuddle your front up to Sinker’s side, and Boost, you lay on your back with your side up against Sinker. That way you can be touching. If you want, I can cuddle up behind you and squeeze you in, that way you’re closer to him but your…” He pointed at Boost’s groin. “You can be, er, pointed up and away from Sinker but still close.”“Oh.” Boost blinked at them. He looked lost. “I. Alright. We can… but what if it doesn’t work and I’m… I don’t know. Gross.”Drift was really starting to wonder what the kriff kind of mods these three had gotten. Most of him was sure he didn’t want to know. Ultimately, it didn’t matter. He knew the answer to this question.“Then we reassess and shift to something else,” he said easily. “Your Vod would just say the same thing, right? He wouldn’t want you to be unhappy.”That seemed to work. Boost sat quietly for a minute and then nodded. Then Regor had an arm around him and with some help they were all settling in on the floor.Drift and Tux got the closer spots; they’d always been closest to Sinker and Boost. Shadow and Breaker took the outsides.By the time they were done shifting and wiggling around, Drift was nearly half-buried under Boost with Boost’s back to his chest, half-way turned towards Sinker. Tux was directly spooning Regor, who was curled into Sinker’s side. Shadow’s sturdy bulk was at Drift’s back, and he knew that Breaker and Tux would be set up the same.It took several minutes for the tension to come down even a little bit.Meanwhile, Drift did his best to ignore how the gown over Boost’s groin kept moving around, like there was something squirming there trying to get out.Boost let out a low whine.Drift squeezed him tight. “We’ve got you, Vod’e. Mhi gar hukaat'kama. We know this is bad but you’re not alone. No matter what’s been done to you, the medics will do their best to make you as comfortable as possible.”He knew he couldn’t promise that they would make it better.“What if they can’t fix us?” Boost asked softly.“They might not be able to,” Drift had to admit, as much as he didn’t want to. “But you know that they’ll do whatever they can. And if you need someone to talk to who has been through something similar, there are plenty of Guards who would be willing to help.”“Kriffing what,” Regor said, sounding shocked.Right. They didn’t talk about that sort of thing much.“It happened a few times,” Breaker admitted quietly. “We all got scars but some ended up with permanent modifications. Or, well, sometimes not permanent ones but enduring ones that had to be medically corrected later. We all know what it’s like to cope with that. With something that happened to you that you didn’t want and it isn’t your fault.”“But it is our fault,” Regor said, words nearly hissed out. “You had to have heard the medics. We were the idiots who went wandering in the lower levels of the Temple, even though we knew it was dangerous; even though we can’t remember a damn thing about what happened down there. It absolutely is our fault.”There was silence as they all digested that.“Maybe you knowingly did something dangerous,” Shadow said, “but this wasn’t anywhere near being on the list of possible potential risks. The end result is the same: you didn’t ask for this. It is not your fault.”Drift thought of what all the mind healers had said to him and his Vod’e over the years. Maybe Regor and Boost needed to hear some of that now.“This isn’t your fault,” Drift said again. “You didn’t ‘deserve’ this, you didn’t ‘earn’ it, and you couldn’t have stopped it if only you tried harder. That sucks. It does. But this is not on you.”He gave Boost another comforting squeeze.“This is another kind of injury, Vod,” Tux said. “You’ll recover. You will. You may not be the same as you were before but life is like that sometimes. We won’t think less of you for having been hurt.”Both Boost and Regor made sounds like they wanted to object.That, too, was expected. This kind of thing took time.Sinker started to stir. He shifted and muttered to himself.“Thank the Force,” Boost breathed out.Then Sinker took a deep inhale and turned to crush Boost into a full body hug.“Ack! Vod, no, I’m-- my weird deecee is going to-- Ugh for kriff’s sake, Sinker.” Boost sounded more exasperated than anything else.“Mmm?” Sinker said, shoving his nose into Boost’s neck. “‘Ou smell unhapp’, Boost. ‘S fine. We’re fine. Mmm. Smell nice. My Vod.”As far as Drift knew, Boost and Sinker weren’t cyare’se, they were just close like Drift and Tux were.Drift kept his curiosity about their relationship to himself. Now wasn’t the time.“Vod, wake up, kriff,” Boost said, still wriggling a little in place, though he didn’t seem to seriously be trying to get away. Drift would have moved had he been doing that.“Why?” Sinker groaned. “Tired.”“Because this is karking weird and I need you to know that I am not intentionally rubbing off on you,” Boost said desperately.That woke Sinker up enough that he sat upright and blinked.Oh. His eyes were kind of glowing. A little red. That.… That sure was something.Drift swallowed.That was something that Sinker didn’t want and didn’t ask for, Drift reminded himself. He swallowed down his reaction and stayed calm.“Everything is alright, Vod,” Drift said. “We’re settled down for a nice cuddle pile to help you all even out.”Sinker shifted his attention to Drift. He took another deep inhale.Which coincidentally showed off the fact that he had fangs now. Kriff.Drift kept his cool and smiled. “Lay down and rest with us, Sinker. Just relax. Boost is kind of upset about his non-con mods and he could use a hug. We told him that you wouldn’t think badly of him--”“Of course, I wouldn’t!” Sinker’s eyes flashed brighter red. “You’re my Vod. Mine. You’d still be you, no matter what happened to you. I’m just karking relieved that you’re alright.”With that, Sinker dragged Boost back into his full-body hug.Boost shuddered and then all the tension went out of him in a huff.“‘M sorry, Vod,” Boost said softly.“Yeah, me too,” Sinker said.Regor moved in to sandwich Sinker between him and Boost. The three of them clung to each other.That’s a good hurdle to jump, Drift thought with relief. He reached his arm across Boost to put a comforting hand on Sinker’s side.“Mhi gar hukaat'kama,” Drift said again. “We’ve got you all. We’re here.”It might take a while, but the three of them would relax and begin to cope a little better. Drift was sure of it. That was how these things went. Until then, Drift and his Vod’e would be here to hold them and keep them safe.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Vokara Che ---It was very obvious that the Vod medics on staff had gotten some news while she'd taken her rest, and that it hadn't been good. All of them were irritated and stressed, snapping and nearly snarling at each other in their frustration and anger.Vokara winced, though she did her best to keep it off her face and out of her body language. "Alright," she said, getting the attention of the whole group, "someone fill me in."They exchanged looks, then looked over at the corner where Commander Wolffe half-sat, half-lounged, deeply asleep. At the sound of her voice, he stirred, muttering something indistinct.It was clear that the medics wanted him to stay asleep. Stressed and worried as he'd been, Vokara was certain that the Commander had likely been pushing himself to his limits. It seemed that not even Cody and Rex had been able to pry him away from Boost and Sinker for long. Forcing herself silent, well aware that the only voices Wolffe would sleep through were those of his Vod'e, she took stock of the options that would allow Wolffe some more rest, then made her decision.Catching Kix's eyes -- Splint and Tranq would most likely fight her on this, driven by a borderline irrational need to be available, should their ARCs need anything, and the other CMOs were absent, likely getting what sleep they could -- she pointed at the soundproofed consultation room with her chin. Come tell me what's happened, or, so help me, I'll have to strap you to a chair until you do.Kix winced, but nodded, and led her into the small room. He waited until she'd closed the door behind her, and then let himself fall into a chair, burying his face in his hands with a groan.Giving him a moment to express his frustration, knowing he desperately needed to, she waited. Albeit impatiently.When he was ready, he took a deep breath, caught her eyes, and started talking. "We finally heard back from Madame Nu about an hour and a half ago," he said, "and the news wasn't great. Based on her research, there're no recorded cases anywhere in the half of the archives that she's searched so far of any-- any Sith body mods that the Order's healers were able to reverse."That, unfortunately, was an answer Vokara had anticipated. "That doesn't mean we will not succeed, Kix," she said gently. "And it does not mean that there is no way to mitigate the changes, or accommodate them in a way that will allow your Vod'e to live normally. In many ways, this is no different from a permanent injury, such as the loss of a limb. Those six are showing most of the same mental and emotional responses that a being who'd lost an arm would."Kix snorted. "The three Wolfpack Vod'e are, you mean," he grumbled, put out.Somehow... that wasn't as much of a surprise as he might've thought it would be. Vokara sighed. "The three Ghosts are in a far better place, I take it.""Ready, willing, and eager to experiment," Kix answered. "Rayn reported that Vere and Vector had holocomm sex as soon as they were allowed to and he sent Tranq in to gather some samples once they were finished. Based on all the tests we've managed to do so far, they won't transmit this... Force osik to anyone else through casual contact. Transmission through sexual contact is something we can really only test definitively once we let them kriff. But that's also looking less and less likely, thank all the little Force gods. So, once everyone is awake for the rotation, we were going to give the three of them the option to spend time together.” He rubbed his eyes and grumbled. “I’m not looking forward to the inevitable orgy." That must have been why they'd allowed Regor, Sinker, and Boost to see and hug one another first: a significantly lower chance of all of them immediately putting the potentially non-contagious nature of their alterations to the test.Shaking her head, bemused, she decided not to pursue that line of discussion. "That's still better news than I'd hoped for. Three Vod'e in distress will be easier to handle than six, if only because their Companies will be just as upset as they are about this. I've heard about the Corries' ambush of the rest of the two relevant ARC squads."Kix nodded. "I have, too, and that was a kriffing relief. Knowing that they were being taken care of and not about to try to batter down the doors of the healing halls...""Instead, we only have Commander Wolffe and Master Plo haunting our domain," she agreed. "Those two are upset, but rational. They're willing to listen to our requests and follow directions. The rest of the ARCs would be tougher to deal with.""True." Kix sighed. "Too kriffing true. Master Plo has been by a few times since you left. He exited the Halls again, once he reassured himself his men were okay. The last time he stopped by, he saw Sergeant Hound outside of their door, heard that his ARCs were all sleeping inside with that squad of Corries whose shinies Cody all but adopted, and then took his leave for the night. I’m pretty sure he’ll be back to check on them all as soon as firstmeal is done, though, and no doubt they'd all be happy to see him."Vokara nodded. That, she could easily believe. Master Plo was a favourite among the Vod'e as a whole, and his own troopers were even more devoted to him than the rest. Tellingly, he was nearly as devoted to them.Kix continued, when she didn't speak up. "Commander Wolffe came back, as well, sometime during the late hours of the sleep cycle. I think he must have wanted to ask about his ARCs again, but we were all preoccupied and he knew better than to interrupt, thankfully. Tranq found him passed out in a chair before we could spare a second to talk to him. Now… well, we’d thought it was better for him to sleep a bit. He needs the rest.”He was silent for a moment, before he rubbed the back of his neck and let his wince show. “Alright. So how do we help mitigate the negative effects of these new body modifications, then?""For now," Vokara told him, "since none of them are in direct physical distress, we concentrate on learning more and helping them cope emotionally. Let Madame Nu continue her searches -- I'll ask her to keep an eye out for any possible avenues for mitigation that we could use in our attempt to help these Vod'e, if she isn't doing so already -- and we'll deal with the Wolfpack trio's mental distress."Kix nodded and ran a tired hand over his scalp, then gave in and scrubbed tiredly at his face."And when was the last time you slept, Kix?" she asked him, watching his expression go first annoyed, then rueful. He had dark rings like bruises under his eyes, Vokara noted, and his posture was less precise and sharp than usual."Less than six hours ago," he answered, "but it wasn't particularly restful. Don't worry about me. I'm less emotionally invested in this whole debacle. Splint and Tranq, on the other hand, have barely left the halls for more than a half hour at a time in over a rotation, though. They've been too on edge to sleep, and the rest of us knew better than to try to force them to. If this keeps up for much longer, though, I'm personally kriffing sedating them. Especially if they keep resisting."That was something that would need to be handled, it was true. Tranq's status, she'd known about. Splint's wasn't a surprise, but she'd hoped he would be more sensible about needing to stay fresh. Vokara settled herself for battle. "Then we must make sure they get the rest they need.""They won't leave," Kix pointed out a second time, secure in his knowledge of his Vod'e. Vokara had to admit that their stubbornness was likely to become an issue.Avoiding that issue for the moment, she asked, "And Wolffe? You didn't want me to wake him."Kix ran his hand over his scalp again, his expression and Force presence going through exasperation, bemusement, and irritation."He takes after Commander Cody," Kix groused. "Can't abide the thought that his close Vod'e are in distress of any kind. He was so tired when he came in that he didn't even notice Hound keeping watch, or the fact that there was a squad of Corries cuddling his ARC troopers. Which amused the kriff out of everyone, and also worried them enough to make them want him to kriffing sleep. He's been running himself into the ground and Splint made sure we all knew not to wake him. He even went so far as to tell Hound not to. And I would bet good creds on Master Plo being off poking at that Force artefact with Fox and Kenobi and Master Mace rather than getting rest like a sensible being. I gather the others helping investigate the kriffing thing are taking turns taking power naps while they work.""Then we'll send all three of the Vod'e in need of rest to join the cuddle pile that the Corries instigated for Boost, Sinker, and Regor. They would all feel better if they got a hug, and you know that as well as I do. For that matter, it would do both Wolffe and his ARCs a lot of good, mentally and emotionally, to be in the same room, and both Tranq and Splint are doing much the same that the Commander has, burning through their reserves. There's no reason why they shouldn't be in there, taking advantage of the situation to rest, after all. Given that you've told me that we're reasonably sure the effects of that artefact are only contagious through sexual contact, now, and even that is looking less and less likely, frankly that seems like the sensible move. Personally, I strongly suspect that it's only possible to induce these genetic alterations through direct use of that artefact that those ARCs accidentally triggered. If Tranq and Splint resist, we'll warn them before we attempt sedation. They may prefer a more private spot to rest, after all. And don't worry, I'll deal with Master Plo appropriately, once he shows up."Kix gave her a bemused look. "Don't think I didn't notice that you're not advocating to put Tranq with Ghost's ARC trio.""That would be the opposite of restful for him, and we both know it."The statement got her a huff of tired laughter, and Kix relaxed a hair. "It would drive him up the walls.""Likely within ten minutes." Vokara agreed. "Now come. Let's put our plan in motion." --- POV: ARC Trooper Sinker ---Sinker woke up feeling both much better and much worse than he had.On the one hand, he was warm and comfortable. He could smell Boost and Regor next to him, and Drift and Tux just beyond them.(How, exactly, he knew them by their smells, he didn’t really want to think too hard about. Maybe it was something else that had tipped him off. He remembered cuddling with them all. That was probably it. He’d just remembered that they had fallen asleep together and that was how he knew who was right next to him.That had to be it.)On the other hand, his throat karking burned with how thirsty he was. His teeth ached from it. Every sense felt like it had been amplified beyond all recognition.“You awake, Vod?” Boost asked quietly.“Ughhhh.” Sinker would rather be asleep again. Was permanent unconsciousness an option? Better not ask that question. The medics would get antsy. “Thirsty,” he said instead. “At least the headache is gone.”“Thank kriff for small favors,” Regor muttered into Sinker’s back. That felt very nice, having all of them packed in so closely together.Without really meaning to, Sinker shoved his nose into Boost’s neck and took a deep breath. The scent of relaxed Vod made Sinker relax a little further himself.… Though it seemed to make the thirsty feeling worse.“I’ll ask someone for breakfast,” Shadow said, farther away in the cuddle pile. “And maybe send in Hound so he can take a shift of relaxing.”“Thanks,” Boost said, only sounding a little miserable.Of course, the Corries had put one of their squad on door guard duty. Years now of Sinker and Boost telling them that they didn’t need to do that here hadn’t gotten them to stop. At least they were more relaxed about it. They set up the cuddle pile here in the Halls unprompted. That alone was a far cry from how they were back at the end of the war.It was about at that moment when Sinker realized that he was actually quite relieved that there was a trusted guard at the door. He blinked a little in surprise.Weird. He wasn’t usually that paranoid.And yet the thought of one of their favorite Corries sitting outside the door to keep watch made Sinker want to melt with relief.
Great. Hypervigilance. Just another wonderful gift from our recent kriff-up.
He growled to himself and rubbed his face back and forth across Boost’s throat.“You alright there, Vod?” Boost asked.“Bleh,” Sinker answered, so totally done with everything already.A moment later, the door cracked open and more people came in.“Vod’e!”Sinker knew that voice. He perked up along with Regor and Sinker.“Commander Wolffe!” Sinker said happily. His eyes stung with tears he didn’t want to shed.Things couldn’t be so bad if Wolffe was still with them.Wolffe, looking tired and rumpled, made his way to the center of the cuddle pile. The Corries melted away as they made room for him to get through.Meanwhile, Sinker was too busy trying to scramble upright. His head felt light and he had strange aches and pains.A moment later, Wolffe was squished in next to all three of them. Sinker and Boost both clung to him as tightly as they could.He was all they had left from… from before. The three of them were the last survivors of the Malevolence, and none of them had ever forgotten that.“I’m glad you’re alright,” Wolffe said roughly.Regor croaked out a bitter laugh. “Relatively.”Boost keened sadly. Sinker just shivered.“It’s really weird,” Boost said unhappily. “It keeps moving on its own. Splint said that it has its own mini-brain and it’s just going to do that. Wolffe, what the kriff am I going to do? Not like I was drowning in riduur options before, but now? I don’t even want to touch me.”Tux and Drift had gone back to hugging them both, plastering themselves over Boost and Sinker’s backs. It made for a nice, dark huddle of bodies, which Sinker relaxed into.Wolffe gave them all another squeeze. “You’d be surprised what people might be interested in,” he said, and suddenly Sinker really wanted to know what he was talking about.Then he remembered how Commander Fox had turned into a giant vulptex-humanoid hybrid for a month or two, and they all damn well knew how enthusiastic about sex Commander Cody was. He was legendary for it. No way he would let a little shape shifting stop him from kriffing his riduur’e.… Maybe it was better not to ask Wolffe for details.“At least you don’t freak out at the smell of blood,” Sinker grumbled.He was a soldier. What kind of soldier couldn’t handle blood?“Freak out, how?” Wolffe asked.Sinker didn’t want to think about it. He shook his head and hid his face in Wolffe’s shirt.“Come on, talk to me, Vod.” We can’t help if we don’t know what’s going on,” Wolffe said, sounding half-frustrated, half-coaxing.“It smells really good,” Sinker admitted quietly. “Makes me hungry.”That was what had happened with the blood test, wasn’t it? He’d smelled and seen blood and suddenly he'd been starving.“I’m gonna hurt people.” Sinker barely managed to get that out. Already he was shivering from trying to not just break down and sob right there.“No chance of that,” Wolffe said with a snort. “You’re you. You wouldn’t hurt anyone unless they deserved it. Besides, the medics were saying that Velvet has similar changes to you, and he’s managed alright so far. I know you have more willpower than Velvet.”That made Sinker huff in surprise and amusement, almost despite himself. It was a knee-jerk reflex to boast about how they were the best troopers in the GAR.“We heard that CMO Carver was taking care of him,” Drift said, not quite asking a question.Wolffe hummed in agreement. “He’s fine. Taciturn bastard. Karking Guards are all madmen, and your CMO is no different. Splint was out there yesterday trying to pump him for information and Carver just stood there, glaring at him, arms full of test results and data pads.”The chatter about the medic drama went right over Sinker’s head; all he could think about was that Velvet managed to let CMO Carver take blood samples and didn’t end up biting him. Or worse.“He didn’t attack him?” Sinker asked, interrupting someone else -- who, he wasn’t even sure. “Velvet, I mean. He didn’t attack CMO Carver?”“Nope. Carver was getting ready to go back in and get teeth imprints from him,” Wolffe said. He pulled back a little so that he could look Sinker in the eyes. “Are you alright, Vod’ika? You don’t seem like you’re tracking well.”That was an understatement. Sinker’s head was spinning. He swallowed hard, which only reminded him of the spiky ball of need in his throat. “Thirsty,” he said, instead.A cup of water appeared next to him. It took Sinker a solid two seconds to realize that, first of all, it was for him, and second, that it was Drift holding it for him.The moment these facts registered, Sinker snatched the cup and drained it as quickly as possible.The water was sweet and cold and delicious. He downed it in seconds, spilling a little down his chin as he did so.He heaved a breath at the empty cup and wanted to cry.“Still thirsty,” he said. “Hurts.” He pointed to his throat. “I need…”He looked down to his own hand holding the cup. There was blood in that hand, in his own arm. Surely, it wouldn’t be so bad for him to bite himself, right? That way no one else would get hurt. He wouldn’t be a danger to anyone. Everything would be fine.He ran his tongue over his teeth as he imagined how rich that blood would taste. If it was even half as good as it had smelled, Sinker would be a happy Vod.“Sinker,” Wolffe said warningly.“Yeah?” Sinker licked his lips and stared. He could hear his own heartbeat thunder in his ears. Sith-hells, he could hear everyone else’s heartbeats, too. The sound rattled his bones.“Vod’ika, what are you thinking?” Wolffe sounded worried. Which was silly. He didn’t need to be worried. Sinker had figured out how to manage this.“I’m fine,” Sinker said absently. “Just… just going to…”He couldn’t finish the words. Now that his mouth was open, he ached to bite.“Whoop, nope, we’re not doing that.” Wolffe was suddenly right there, shoving himself in between Sinker and his own arm, breaking Sinker’s line of sight.“What?” Sinker blinked in confusion.“Get Master Che and Splint,” Wolffe ordered. Breaker was already up and running. Then Wolffe tilted Sinker’s face up so they were looking eye-to-eye. “Stay with me, Sinker. I know you’re hungry. We’ll find something for you to eat, alright?”For whatever reason, Sinker was immediately struck by the mental image of Wolffe ordering an arm from the closest refectory. Food on demand. Sinker blinked at him again.Kriff, he’d been about to bite his own arm. He closed his eyes and whined.Wolffe’s hand was at the back of his neck, pulling him in so that their foreheads touched. “I know, Vod’ika. Just stay calm and we’ll figure this out.”Sinker could do that. His Vod’e were with him. He could be calm.It took him a few tries to form words, but eventually he managed to say, “If Velvet can handle this, I suppose I need to, too, just to keep up the Wolfpack’s rep.”It was a weak joke. The Corries laughed, at least. Wolffe huffed, too. That was a win.“Can’t let those sex addicts make us look bad,” Boost said with a snort. “Oh no. I just realized. The three of them have the same banthashit going on as us. We are never going to be safe from Captain Vere talking about his tentacle dick.”Sinker breathed out a laugh, and then a chuckle. He was right. The three V’s would be even more insufferable.At that moment, Breaker returned with Splint and Master Che. Breaker was pushing a cart with what had to be firstmeal on it, while Splint had an armful of medical packages.“Morning, Vod’e,” Splint said. His jaw was clenched and Sinker could smell the fear on him. Master Che was significantly calmer.“Sinker, may I come closer and examine you in the Force?” Master Che asked.On instinct, Sinker bared his fangs and growled. Then he realized what he was doing and made a face. Ugh. Growling at a Jedi? Next thing would be him growling at General Buir, and how awful would that be?“You’ll be alright,” Wolffe said quietly. “We’re here. We won’t let anything bad happen.”Sinker snapped his teeth in irritation. “It’s not me I’m worried about.” Then he paused and thought that through.It really wasn’t him that he was worried about. Which was… weird. He didn’t think Master Che would hurt him. He was completely worried about her assaulting Boost and Regor.He sat there with his jaw hanging in confusion.What the kriff?!What in the actual Sith-hells did he think was going to happen to Boost and Regor? Master Che was a healer. The head of the Halls. And that was their own CMO with her!He was so shocked at his own reaction that he actually sat there, dumbfounded, for a moment.“Would it be alright if I stepped out towards you?” he asked. That would make him feel better because then Boost and Regor would be safely behind him and in the arms of trusted Vod’e.“Absolutely,” Master Che said easily. “Would you like someone to stay with you while I check you over?”Yes, now that he thought about it. “Wolffe, please?”“Of course,” Wolffe replied easily.The two of them made their way to the other side of the room. After a moment of confusion, Sinker went ahead and sat down on the bed that they’d clearly shoved aside to make room for the cuddle pile. Wolffe sat right next to him.“Alright,” Sinker said, not sure of what else to say.“Thank you, Sinker.” Master Che smiled at him. A moment later she stepped forward slowly, and then touched his arm.Sinker kept his eyes on the cuddle pile and focused on how safe they all were together.
I will not bite Master Che. I will not bite Master Che.
“Nothing looks too out of place,” Master Che said after a minute or two. “I think that the hunger you're feeling isn’t entirely based on a physiological deficiency.”“So it’s psychological?” Wolffe asked, scepticism clear in his voice.“No. It is energetic in nature. Something to do with whatever Force wrought changes that these three have gone through. Sinker, we’re going to start by giving you different things to drink and I want you to tell me how you feel after each one.”“Experiment time, huh,” Sinker said, feeling kind of depressed. At least the needles weren’t coming back. That would end with biting, he was sure of it.“Might as well,” she said with a small smile. “It’ll all be good for you anyways, so none of this should hurt.”The first thing was water which, while delicious, did nothing for the thirst. It did make him feel a little better.“Likely because you actually do need regular hydration, still,” Master Che theorized.Splint handed her the next bottle, which turned out to be some kind of electrolyte drink.That tasted about as awful as they normally did, and still Sinker felt the burning hunger in his throat.After that was a thicker slurry. Master Che explained that it was filled with blended fruits and proteins. That… didn’t taste awful.“Helps a little,” Sinker admitted. “I’m not dizzy or lightheaded anymore.” He glanced sheepishly at Splint, who was glaring at him now… possibly for admitting that he had been dizzy and lightheaded and hadn’t told anyone. “Still feels like I need to drink something but it’s not as bad.”“So some of that could be your natural hunger.” Master Che made some notes. “The hungers might feed into each other. Satisfying your physical needs may make the Force deficiencies easier to bear.”That made sense. Sinker shrugged. And then blushed. “Sorry for growling at you,” he said, feeling a little ashamed.“Nonsense. There is no need to apologize.” Master Che waved dismissively. “Being growled at is hardly the worst thing to happen to me on any given day in the Halls. Unlike the initiates, you don’t physically try to run away from getting your shots.” She gave him a tired look. “You try chasing down a muddied up toddler who is intent on fleeing and can squeeze through vents.”Sinker couldn’t help but laugh at that. Alright, so maybe he wasn’t that bad. He at least stayed still.Though he had almost taken a bite out of Splint yesterday…Before he could give Splint a guilty look, Master Che had shoved another bottle at him.This one smelled… interesting.“What’s in this?” he asked.“Puréed bantha meat,” Master Che said casually. “It’s high quality and safe for baseline humans to eat raw. One of the refectories serves a dish that is very similar to this. Ground bantha meat mixed with the yoke from a fresh nuna egg, along with some oils and herbs. I hear it is very tasty.”… Huh. That didn’t sound so awful. He’d forgotten that some of the Jedi were carnivores, and there were plenty of raw seafood dishes that the Vod’e enjoyed. Master Fisto had introduced his battalion to a number of delicious raw fishes, and that had spread to the rest of them. It stood to reason that raw meat in general wasn’t so awful.Sinker felt weirdly better about himself. Maybe whatever had been done to him wasn’t so drastic after all.He took a sip.Thick. Tasty. Not quite right, but good all the same. The awful burning inside of him cooled.He drank some more.Soon he downed the whole cup. The ache in his teeth wasn’t quite so bad.“Good,” he said. “Still thirsty,” he admitted. “But… this was nice. Wish I could bite something. And it had too much… other stuff in it,” he said, in an attempt to feel out what precisely was wrong. “Like drinking watered down booze.”Master Che hummed. “Alright. Now this.”‘This’ was a small bottle of blood. He gave her an unhappy grimace.“It’s bantha blood,” she said. “There is a very popular soup made out of it. This, however, is just the blood.”It smelled very good.His eyes fluttered shut at the first taste. That was karking good. Still not exactly what he’d been craving, but close enough that he wanted more.“Good,” he said in between drinks. “Not right, but good.”He finished off the small bottle and ran his tongue over his teeth. Already he felt more settled.“Do you still feel like you need to drink?” Master Che asked while taking notes.Sinker took stock of himself. He grimaced. “It’s still there,” -- he waved a hand up at his throat-- “but it hurts less. It’s easier to think now.”Master Che put a hand on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Doing some Force osik, probably.After a minute she sighed. “Alright. One last bottle, for now anyways.”This one was very familiar. It was a Vod blood transfusion bottle.He gave her an unhappy look.“Just try it,” she said. “The more information we have, the better.”Wolffe leaned into him and gave him a one-armed hug. “Do what you need to, Vod. We’re here for you.”Sinker swallowed hard and nodded. He opened the cap. The scent of it roared around him and like that, his teeth were at their sharpest. The lights in the room turned horribly bright. Heartbeats all over the room picked up, pattering in his ears like quickly falling rain.
I can do this. I’m not a monster. I’m not.
He found that he was panting, saliva dripping off of his fangs.I might be a monster.He took a drink.That wasn’t blood in that bottle, it was glory made liquid. Every cell in Sinker’s body screamed yes as he drank. He felt warm and strong, safe and powerful. He couldn’t have described the flavor if he’d tried.When he let the bottle drop from his lips, he felt electrified. Like he could run a thousand klicks in a quarter of an hour. The world was still too bright and sounds were too much but instead of being overwhelming, everything just slotted into place, observed and categorised in his brain without need to think about it.“Good,” Sinker managed. “Perfect.”“You didn’t drink it all,” Master Che pointed out.Sinker blinked in surprise. He looked down.Sure enough, there was still more than half of the bottle left.He could drink more, if he wanted to.“I’m… full,” he said. That was unexpected. He raised the bottle up to his lips again but lowered it after only a moment’s thought. He shook his head. “Don’t need any more.”He was more than full, he was sated. It was a nice feeling.“Hmmm. That’s a good sign,” Master Che said. “I think your dietary needs might be closer to those of an obligate carnivore now. You’ll still need solid foods, leaning towards raw meats. Having a smaller humanoid blood component required is very manageable.”Sinker laughed, somewhat hysterically. “Manageable,” he said incredulously.She gave him a wry smile. “Better than an entirely liquid diet. You’d have some difficulty keeping up your body weight.”
Fancy sharp teeth and weird eyes and too much hearing, all for the low, low cost of being turned into a cannibal.
Sinker covered his face with one hand. He wanted to scream.“Bright side,” Drift said, speaking up into the awkward silence, “at least if you do end up biting someone, you won’t drain them dry. Though you could probably bite someone’s throat out with those teeth if you wanted to.”Tux made an approving noise.“How is that a bright side?” Sinker snapped.Wolffe rubbed his back soothingly and hummed at him. “It’s a good thing that you can eat other things.”“We should update Carver,” Splint said. He was still standing half a step behind Master Che, though he at least looked like he was trying to be calm. He smelled like fear, which weirdly made Sinker want to bite him more, though in irritation rather than hunger.“We’ll get through this, Vod,” Wolffe said. “Yeah, some things are different, but you’re still you.”“You say that now, but what happens when I accidentally bite one of our Vod’e?” Sinker asked. That would be such a cluster kriff. He just knew it would be.“I’ll talk with the Wolfpack and with General Plo, and we’ll make sure that everyone is aware not to tease you,” Wolffe said with a shrug. “Everyone has their triggers. This is no different. Besides, we’re all a little bitey.”That hysterical laugh was back. Sinker didn’t have the will to try and stop it. He just huddled into Wolffe’s arms.“I’m going to leave this here,” Master Che said, taking the bottle of Vod blood from Sinker’s hand and setting it on a nearby tray. “We’ve got a few more tests to run but then we’ll let you all get some rest and settle in. Let us know if there are any changes in how you’re feeling.”Sinker waved a hand at her, not quite managing a salute.“Come on,” Wolffe said. “Just a few more scans and then we can relax.”“I’m a freak,” Sinker said.Wolffe snorted. “Not much has changed, then. Now you just have a raw food diet to go with it.”Sinker glared at him and tried to shove him off the bed.Wolffe just laughed. What an asshole.Sinker didn’t want to admit that he did feel a little better.“Just for that, I may bite you anyways,” Sinker said.“If you need to, go for it,” Wolffe said with a shrug.And it was just that easy, for him. Sinker felt a warm glow inside. He found himself smiling.Yeah. He would be alright. He had his Vod’e with him. They’d help him through whatever this banthashit was and they’d all move forward together.-- --- POV: ARC Trooper Velvet ---“Show me your cock,” Velvet demanded the moment he was allowed into Vere’s room.Before he could rush over, Carver held him back with one hand on the shoulder. Velvet didn’t need to look at him to know that he was rolling his eyes.“Take a minute for me to get the door closed, please,” Carver asked tiredly.“Too late,” Vector said. He was already crouched down on the floor next to where Vere sat naked on his bed, eye level with Vere’s brand new tentacle. “Kriff, look at it.”The tentacle -- Force, Velvet needed to stop thinking of it as its own thing and remember that it was just Vere’s cock -- Vere’s cock sort of… waved. Maybe.“I know, right?” Vere was a little wide eyed as he stared too. He sounded torn between being impressed and being concerned.Clearly, Carver had realized when he was outdone, because he just sighed and let Velvet go.Velvet immediately moved to go stand by Vector, giving Vere’s dick a look from the top down.“Wow.” Velvet was more than a little intrigued. It was the same color as usual, if maybe a little redder. “Does it get bigger? Is this how you look aroused?” Velvet wasn’t judging; he was genuinely curious.“It gets bigger,” Vere said. Then he tilted his head to the side as if to say, sort of. “Thicker, anyways. Maybe a little longer."There were no glans on the end. When Velvet crouched down, he was able to see that the slit at the end was larger too. Potentially very large, though it was hard to tell with it squirming around like that.“Please take a few minutes before you start touching,” Carver said as he unpiled supplies that Velvet hadn’t bothered to care about.“Why?” Velvet asked. The tentacle-- Vere’s cock was curling. Was it beckoning or being shy? Hard to say.“Because at the very least we need to talk about whether or not I’ll be watching this, and what limits I have.” That was far too sensible.… Carver had a point. Dammit.“Yeah, fair,” Vector said with a sigh. “But I want to touch that.”“And I want to see what your cunt looks like,” Vere said with a grin.“Awww, you both got all the fun parts.” Velvet maybe pouted a little.“I don’t know, I thought your teeth were pretty fun,” Carver said offhandedly.Just the mention of that was enough to make Velvet’s face burn with a blush and his eyes lose focus. The way that Carver had shoved his fingers right into Velvet’s mouth… kriff. The tugging on Velvet’s fangs…Which, of course, just reminded Velvet that he was still thirsty as kriff. He wanted to bite someone so badly.Velvet let out a low rumbling growl.“Oooo, interesting,” Vere said. “Did you know that your eyes glow red now?”Velvet blinked. Then he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. Shit, that didn’t help. He could smell both Vere and Vector: their arousal and happiness.“C--” Velvet stopped for a moment to get ahold of himself. After swallowing down that itchy, dry patch in his throat, he tried again. “Carver told me.”Suddenly, Vere and Vector were right there, holding him close from both sides.“We’ve got you, Velvet,” Vere said softly, nose buried into Velvet’s temple.“Everything will be alright, Vod,” Vector said from Velvet’s other side.Having them wrapped around him made the hunger taper off. He leaned into them both, letting them hold his weight up.“That’s another reason to wait,” Carver said. “Before we let you three get together, a little more progress was made with Sinker, Boost, and Regor. You,” he said, pointing to Velvet, “need to eat.”“None of us have had firstmeal yet,” Vector pointed out.“True, but Velvet is apparently a carnivore now, one that requires raw blood and meat, among other things.”At the mention of blood, Velvet outright moaned with want. He was panting again, less because he was out of breath and more because it was a convenient way to get his mouth ready to bite something.“Please.” Velvet was being so good right now. Surely, Carver would reward him with something to sink his teeth into.“That’s not the worst of it, Vod’e,” Carver said. “Based on what happened with Sinker -- nothing bad, just stressful for him -- it looks like you’ll be needing at least a little of humanoid blood. How often, we can only guess. But for now, all of you need to eat an actual meal and you, Velvet, get an extra couple of drinks to go with it.”“Humanoid blood,” Vector said quietly.“Kriff,” Vere said.Carver herded them all into sitting down and started handing out food. Velvet stopped paying attention the moment a cup was shoved into his hands.It smelled good.He had to swallow down all the drool that had pooled in his mouth before he even attempted drinking it.The taste was nice. Not amazing? But nice enough. There were thick chunks and it had a meaty flavor. Velvet found he didn’t care much about what was in it. The important thing was that he didn’t feel like his throat was being scoured by burning sand anymore.He drained the container quickly and then sighed.Before he could complain that he was still hungry, still thirsty, the first container was taken away and another cup was shoved into his hands.“That was raw bantha ground up and puréed with nuna eggs and blue milk,” Carver explained. “It should nourish you well enough and take the edge off before you drink this.” He pointed at the new cup. “Vod blood, part of our transfusion stock. Drink up.”Velvet stared at it, and then at Carver. “It’s really alright for me to drink this?” He didn’t open the lid; the moment he did, he knew he’d be guzzling it down.“Why not?” Carver said, with a remarkable lack of kriffs to give about it. “We have it specifically to help the Vod’e, and thus you qualify. Who cares if we put it in a vein or in your mouth? As long as it works.”Put it that way and it didn’t seem that weird at all.Force bless the Corries and their totally unaffected attitude about nearly everything.Velvet looked to Vere, who shrugged. Then he turned to Vector, who did the same and then nodded encouragingly at the cup in Velvet’s hand.
Well. Might as well, I suppose.
The taste of it… the taste... Force. Velvet might have died and gone to heaven. He wasn’t sure he’d ever drank anything as good as this, at least where food was considered. The thick, full flavor of it washed away every hint of tiredness and thirst. With the base of the bantha-slurry in his stomach already, Velvet felt amazingly, comfortably full in very short order.He played with a little sip of it in his mouth, letting it wash over his teeth only to savour the sensation of it flowing down into his belly. Shit, this is the good stuff.He found that he was finished long before his cup was empty.Carver hummed and made some notes. “Same as with Sinker. Looks like you won’t need much to stay happy. Your eyes are brighter now. Mind if I run a few tests on you to see if anything else has been affected?”“Anything you’d like,” Velvet said happily. For the first time since he’d woken up in the Halls, he felt pretty damn great.While Carver checked Velvet’s vision, hearing, and other senses, Vector and Vere asked questions.“So that tasted good?” Vector asked.“So, so good.” Velvet nodded.“And you’re evened out? You were looking really out of it there,” Vere said. His eyes were narrowed with thought. After some pointed gestures on Velvet’s part, he started eating his firstmeal. His dick was gently curling back and forth. It was really rather cute.“Yeah,” Velvet said with a nod. “I feel, I don’t know. Really great. Like I could run a triple shift and be fine.” He snorted. “Hopefully, I don’t get a sugar crash later. Blood crash. Whatever.” He shook his head.The others nodded.“Any idea why you got fangs and blood drinking and we got different genitals?” Vector asked.“Current theory is that the blood drinking part of the triad is for fertilization,” Carver said as he typed on his datapad. “Vere’s sperm samples came back as something other than actual semen -- it seems to be an extra thick lubricant instead, probably to help those eggs get out -- while Velvet’s contained more than the average number of sperm per unit.”That sank in for a moment. Then Vere and Velvet both said at the same time, “Wait, when did you get a chance to get off?!”Vector just laughed at them. “We got to have holocomm sex last night,” he said in a teasing voice. “Both of us wanted to give our new parts a try, but we weren’t allowed to actually visit. So our fine, wonderful Captain talked me through some self-love.”Kriff, that sounded amazing. Velvet was a little jealous.“What about you?” Vere asked, leaning in so his shoulder bumped Velvet’s. “Couldn’t wait for us?”A lazy, satisfied smile spread across Velvet’s face. He licked his lips and let his gaze trail down Carver’s body, right to his still-gloved hands. “Carver helped me out.”“Really.” Vere raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Well done, Vod.”Carver was alarm-siren red in the face and Velvet could hear his heartbeat pick up a little. The fact that Velvet could hear that was weird. And sort of awesome. Aside from that, Carver didn’t give any of them the satisfaction of seeing him flustered. He kept working on his datapad. “He got himself off. I just… offered suggestions.”“Ooooh, that’s hot,” Vector said.Velvet took a deep breath in. He could smell how Vector had gotten a little wet from that. Kriff, that was another thing he wanted to look at; his Vod had a cunt now.Then the scent of Carver’s arousal utterly distracted him. This only reminded him of what they’d done the day before.“Ahh Sith-hells, he really was hot as kriff,” Velvet said with a curling smile. “He face-kriffed me with his fingers all while demanding that I be good and not bite him. Balls of solid beskar. He took me with my teeth like this, and he didn’t even flinch when he ran his fingers all over them.” A pleasant shiver raced up Velvet’s spine. Then his heart turned a little gooey. “Vod’e, he helped me make sure that I’d be safe, that I wouldn’t hurt anyone if I wanted to blow them.”He gave me back my favorite thing in the whole galaxy when I was afraid that I’d lost it, Velvet didn’t say. He didn’t have to. From the look on Vere and Vector’s faces, they could read between the lines.Carver had finally managed to get his blushes under control. He tossed his head and shrugged. “It is important to you.” As if that explained everything.Perhaps it did.Vere and Vector both hummed appreciatively.“We should find a way to thank you,” Vere said in a voice that Velvet was very on board with.Carver snorted and rolled his eyes. “You three need to work on sorting yourselves out first.”That was a good point.Wait. “That’s not a ‘no’,” Velvet said with a grin.Carver gave him his patented Not-Impressed look and began setting out sample containers. “After conferring with Tranq and Vokara, we decided it was pointless to ask you three to not kriff--” Obviously, though Velvet knew that they all would have at least tried to abstain if the medics had ordered it, “--but we would like you to try at least one round without direct intercourse first. I want to check your emission samples to make sure that the new contraceptive hypos are working.”Oh.Yes. That… that was also a very good plan.“Yes, please,” Vector said with a mild grimace. “I don’t want to be a buir just yet.” He paused and then said, “Not that I’m totally against it! Just… not right now.”“And preferably after we figure out just exactly how those eggs are going to get into you, and how they might come out again,” Carver added dryly.Vere grimaced. “Noted and agreed.”Velvet perked up. “Does that mean that I can swallo--”He immediately shut up after seeing Carver’s face. “I would like those first samples uncontaminated by saliva, please,” Carver said.Damn.“Are you going to watch?” Vere asked. Velvet couldn’t help but notice that his new dick-tentacle was beginning to swell. Kriff. It looked delicious.Here, Carver hesitated. The delicate scent of his arousal floated in the room, enough that Velvet dragged his gaze away from Vere’s dick just so he could see how Carver was reacting.Carver glanced nervously at the door. Right, because that was still kind of a thing for him. He wasn’t nearly so sex-phobic as he'd been at the outset -- and Velvet was very proud of all the progress they’d made together -- but they still had to be careful.“I… I wouldn’t mind,” Carver said after a long moment. He tilted his head in rueful acknowledgement. “Part of that is because it would be medically useful to have actual eyes on this process, I admit.” He licked his lips. “I’m not sure that I’d be, well, game for anything more, later…”“We can always reassess at a later point,” Vere said smoothly. “For now, what are your limits?”That pretty blush was back on Carver’s face. “I need to make sure that we have a guard on the door outside.”All of them were familiar with that procedure by now; they all nodded.“I’m afraid that I may need to step in during the first round or two to get those samples,” Carver added with a slight grimace. “Not in a sexy way. Just. We need to know how to help, and to do that we need to just flat-out know more.”“Makes sense,” Vector said. “Will it hurt?”“It shouldn’t, and I’ll narrate anything that I need to do and tell you about it before I touch you,” Carver said. “Assuming I even need to do that. There’s every chance I won’t.”“But you won’t know what’s needed until you’re watching what happens,” Velvet filled in.“Right.” Carver busied himself by laying out other supplies. Judging by the blush on his cheeks and the thump-thump-thump of his heart, he was more flustered than he was letting on.“None of us are really into pain,” Vere said, taking over their end of the negotiations. “You already know what Velvet likes. Vector and I have similar tastes. Praise is good. I enjoy telling the others what to do. They like listening.”“Shock,” Carver muttered under his breath. His face was so very red.Vere continued on like they hadn’t all heard that. “Everything else, I expect will be in flux as we figure out how our new body parts work.”“Alright.” Carver took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Alright. I. Um. If we do end up doing-- I mean, if I end up joining you all... I don’t like any kind of binding or being held down. I don’t like pain. I don’t like humiliation. Velvet and I have tried me being penetrated and I find that it’s not my favorite, though I know you all would make it good for me if we did that. I like my partners above me rather than under me…” He twitched a little at that and his scent went off a bit; Velvet could guess that it was because of whatever he was mentally trying to shove into a box.“Want a hug, Vod?” Velvet asked.The look Carver shot him was grateful and a touch deprecating. He shook his head. “Maybe later.” He ran a hand through his hair and took another calming breath. “Aside from that… I don’t know. Velvet and I have fun sometimes but I’m not as experienced as you three.”Velvet wanted to purr at him. “Don’t sell yourself short. We have fun with Kix and Jesse sometimes, too. This won’t be all that different.”That earned him a raised eyebrow and a pointed look at Vere’s dick. Vere snorted and Vector snickered.“Alright, fair,” Velvet said with a wince.Vere’s dick was looking awfully inviting… now that Velvet was back to looking at it.Carver huffed a laugh at them and shook his head. “You three get started doing what you want to do. I’m going to arrange the door guard and get us locked in.”“Sir, yes, sir,” Velvet said with enthusiasm.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: ARC Trooper Velvet ---It only took moments for Velvet and Vector to strip. Vere, that smug shabuir, just settled into his seat on the side of the bed and gave them both a filthy smirk.“I wanna lick you,” Velvet said immediately.“We should start with hands, just to make our personal medic happy,” Vere said as he licked his lips.Vector laughed. “Our personal medic. You sure Carver is alright with that?”Since Carver was still busy at the door, he was indisposed. Maybe Velvet would tease him with that line later.For now, Velvet was far too enthralled with his Vod’s new appendage. Vere’s cock had plumped up nicely and was a lovely deep red.Velvet trailed a finger over the top of it, from tip to root and then back again.“There we go, Velvet,” Vere cooed at him. “Feels good.”Then Vere’s dick curled up to try and wrap around Velvet’s finger. Velvet about jumped out of his skin in surprise. “Oh kriff!”He tried to move his hand back. Vere’s dick wouldn’t let go.“Oh kark, that’s hot,” Velvet said. A million possibilities raced through his head. One in particular stood out. “Ohhhh when you’re kriffing us, you’ll be able to hit that good spot and rub.”Vere’s grin grew.Vector let out a soft whimper. He was already jacking himself off.“So quick, Vod?” Vere asked.Vector scoffed. “The sooner we get through with round one, the sooner we can get on to actually kriffing.”“Well, kriff, you can’t argue with logic like that,” Velvet said.There would be time to tease later. More specifically, there would be time to tease them both with his tongue later. For now…“Race you to the finish,” Velvet said with a laugh. He leaned against the bed next to Vere and began stroking himself off with his free hand. Vere’s cock was still holding on to Velvet’s other hand. Rather than try to escape, Velvet just made a loose ring with his fingers. Vere -- or maybe just his cock? -- got the memo and started wriggling in and out of Velvet’s grasp.The scent of sex and arousal was in the air, making Velvet’s brain go a little melty.“You-- kriff-- you gonna let me handle that?” Vere asked, sounding a little out of breath.“Pssh, no. What kind of a circle jerk do you think this is?” Velvet closed his eyes and tilted his head back, the better to enjoy what he was feeling.“The kind where I’m missing from the circle,” Vector said, sounding more amused than anything.“Then get over here,” Vere said.There was the sound of some moving around and then Vector let out a breathy moan. The room filled with the quiet noise of skin-on-skin and little breaths. Carver was moving around and typing on a data pad, which meant karking kriff Carver was there probably watching them. Velvet wasn’t one to specifically get off on having an audience, but this was very nice.“Should we come--” Velvet wanted to say, on you. Kriff, he didn’t think that Carver would let them do that. Even if it would be sexy as Sith-hells.Just the thought of it made him speed up his hands. His own dick was a well loved friend. Vere’s new tentacle was that and so much more. It pulsed in his hand, squirmed and twitched, writhed in a very wonderful way. Velvet felt tightness pool in his gut. Kriff, he was already close.“I want to touch the end,” Velvet said quietly.“Do it,” Vere answered. “Gently.”As if presenting itself, the tip of Vere’s cock rubbed right up against Velvet’s thumb. The liquid that was leaking out of it was thicker than normal precome. Velvet luxuriated in the feel of it, rubbing it all over Vere’s shaft. With a specific twist of his hand, he managed to catch the large slit at the end of Vere’s cock with the callus on his thumb and then lovingly circled that opening.“Kriff, I think I can fit my finger in there.” Velvet barely managed to get the words out, he was so hot and bothered.“Nnnnggh, maybe-- oh kriff-- maybe not, not yet,” Vere said. He put a hand on the back of Velvet’s head and ran his fingers through Velvet’s hair. From the way the palm of his hand gripped Velvet’s skull, Vere was struggling to not push Velvet’s face down onto his cock.Not that Velvet would have objected to that.The feeling did bring up a whole host of memories about when Vere had done exactly that, and had then proceeded to use Velvet’s face as a kriff-toy.All three of them were making soft little noises now. Velvet felt flushed and his dick was wet with precome.“I am not going to collect a sample off of the floor,” Carver said, suddenly reminding Velvet that he was being watched. “So when you’re ready, say something and I’ll hand you a sample cup.”“Would you hold it for me?” Velvet opened his eyes to give Carver a come-hither look.Carver was standing with his back pressed to the door. His attempts to look casual were totally ruined by how wide and dark his eyes were and how red his face was. He looked nearly as red as the crimson accents on his armor. He was still taking notes, even as he stared right at Velvet’s hands.“No trying to lure me into sex before I get as many observations written down as I can,” Carver said evenly. Spine of beskar on him, Velvet was sure.“Look at you,” Velvet said. He licked his lips as he gave the end of Vere’s dick a little knob polishing twist. “Strong and ready to do your duty even though we’re here putting on a little show for you.”Carver’s shoulders came up a little. If he’d been any less occupied with work, Velvet suspected that Carver would be doing that cute, shy, duck-and-blush thing. Though he certainly was blushing already. Velvet eyed Carver’s codpiece. No way to tell if he was hard under there. Not yet anyways.Velvet made a point to stop jerking himself off long enough to lick his hand clean, all while eye-kriffing Carver as best as he could. Then he went back to kriffing his hand.Carver swallowed hard.Vere was dripping. Kark, that was a lot of fluid. Velvet couldn’t wait to taste it.“Unnngh,” Vere groaned and squirmed in place. “That feels good, Vod. Kriff. It feels…” He rolled his head back, stretching his neck out in a way that Velvet knew meant that he was feeling very, very good and was trying to hold himself back. “The sensation goes deeper, somehow. I can feel it in my stomach.”Carver took more notes.“Same for me,” Vector added. He was busy shoving one of his hands as far down as he could, fingering his cunt while Vere stroked him off.“That would make sense,” Carver said. He cleared his throat. “Both of you have more internal organs than before, ones specifically related to your reproductive systems.”“Color me jealous,” Velvet muttered.“Don’t worry, Vod, we’ll share,” Vector said, already panting.“Are you riding your fingers?” Vere asked. He was beginning to sound a little desperate.“Nnnngh, absolutely. Kark, this feels so good. Yes, right there, Vod.” Vector let out a high pitched moan. “I’m ready,” he said.Carver visibly steeled himself and stepped over to hand Vector a small cup.Between Vere and Vector, they managed to get the cup mostly in the right spot at the right time. Vector let out that beautiful little groan that meant that he was getting off hard. Velvet’s eyes were glued to the scene before him. Vere always knew just how to milk that last little bit of spend out of them; seeing his large hand squeeze and press Vector’s dick was a karking stunning thing to behold.“Yeah, that’s it,” Vere said. “Let me get every drop out of you. Look at you, just oozing with how good you feel. Velvet, once you get off, I want you to lick him clean.”With a shivering groan, Velvet found himself about to come, too. “I’m gonna-- Carver--”Carver was already there, holding on to a small cup and presenting it to Velvet. They didn’t have time for a hand off; Velvet was already coming. He tried to aim for the cup, he really did. Some of his spend splashed onto the floor. Some of it got onto Carver’s gauntlet. That sight made Velvet shudder even harder with pleasure. That was his release decorating Carver’s battalion colors.“Kriff,” Velvet stuttered. “Sor-- kriff-- I... uggh. Kriff.” He pressed his hips forward, nearly kriffing his own fist. “Kriff, that’s hot.”Carver sighed. He looked more amused than annoyed, so Velvet counted it as a win.“Beautiful,” Vere said. “You would look so karking amazing covered in our come.”Carver’s shoulders went up to his ears and he made a small noise that sounded suspiciously like eep. It didn’t take long for him to get his composure back. Sadly.He cleared his throat and stepped away to put labels on the sample cups. “Since your come may actually be released with rather large eggs, I think I’ll hold off for a moment and wait for you three to figure that out first.”Vere barked out a laugh. Velvet grinned. Vector didn’t bother with either; he was busy laying back and slowly fingering himself. He had one leg bent with his foot on the bed, giving himself better access. Incidentally, this also gave the rest of them a fantastic view.Just as Velvet was considering stepping over to get a closer look, Vere brought his hand over to lay on top of Velvet’s, forcefully moving him faster up and down his cock.“There,” Vere said. “Kark, you both are so damn sexy. I can’t wait to kriff you both.”“Come on, come for us,” Velvet whispered into his ear. “Look over at Vector’s sexy holes. I bet you could alternate between them, kriffing him back and forth until he’s gushing with your spend.”Carver shoved a cup into Velvet’s hand. Just in time, too. A large glut of thick, white liquid shot out of Vere’s dick. It came in spurts, just like his normal come would have. It also hung from his dick in long strings, dripping down into the cup in a way that made it look positively obscene. That end slit was so puffy and swollen; Velvet wanted to stick his tongue in it.“Kriff.” Vere’s soft exclamation sounded more disappointed than relieved.“What?” Carver asked. He was standing not more than a step away, taking more notes.“That felt good. Just not as good as it should have.” Vere grimaced and shrugged. “Not bad. I feel like it could have been better.”Velvet nodded along. Orgasms were like that sometimes. “Maybe it’ll be better with my mouth on you,” he offered.Vere leered at him. “I’m sure it will.”“You three have fun with that,” Carver said as he retrieved the cup from Velvet’s hand. “Feel free to use your mouths and hands. No penetration until the test results get back.” He gave them all a stern look.“Are you leaving to go test them?” Velvet tried not to let on how sad he was about that.But happily, Carver shook his head no. “I’ll pass these off to Tranq and stay in here with you three.”“Oh good.” Velvet smiled at him. His smile quickly turned into a wicked grin. “Then you can watch me eat Vector out.”“Yes, please,” Vector said plaintively.Carver swallowed hard, turned around, and walked to the door.Rather than wait for him, Velvet got on with climbing up onto the bed. “Here. Shift over. Easier that way,” he said.In no time, Vector was settled properly onto the bed and Velvet got his first taste of his Vod’s cunt. His brain categorised the flavor while his mouth was occupied working breathless little pleased noises out of Vector.Kinda sweet, he mused. A pleasant taste. Thick on the tongue. A lot different than what Vector’s come tasted like… or rather, the come from his cock. From this angle, Velvet had Vector’s balls shoved up against his face as he tried to lick in.“Up,” Vere said. A moment later, a pillow was shoved under Vector, giving both of them a better angle for oral.“Mmm, there we go,” Velvet muttered. Now he could really get his tongue in there. He knew that he should be licking around the slit first, working Vector up to penetration with his tongue, but Vector was already so wet and open. Velvet couldn’t resist. Every time he stuck his tongue in, Vector made a high pitched whine that made Velvet want to rut into the sheets.“Kriff, look at you both,” Vere said. He ran his fingers through Velvet’s hair, giving him a light scritch of encouragement. “I’m the luckiest Vod in the galaxy. I get to watch you both whenever I want.” There was a short pause and then Velvet could practically hear Vere’s amusement as he said, “Though second luckiest might be Carver, here. He gets to watch, too.”A soft sputtering off on the other side of the room made Velvet smile as he worked. Teasing Carver was fun as Sith-hells.“No fingers yet, Velvet,” Carver said. He’d had to clear his throat before getting the words out. At the moment, the only thing Velvet could smell was Vector’s slick, which meant that he was sadly missing out on what he was sure would be Carver’s arousal. Ah well, there would be more time for that later.Wait.“Why no fingers?” Velvet said. He looked up and frowned. Sure enough, Carver was as red as his armor accents. Despite that, he still looked stern and unimpressed.“Because you just jerked your Vod’e off with those hands,” Carver said flatly. “Until we’re sure the contraceptives work, no putting potentially viable semen into Vector’s vagina.”“But there aren’t even any eggs in there!” This was unfair. Velvet pouted.“Not yet,” Carver said pointedly. He raised both eyebrows and looked to Vere, who already had a hand curled around his growing erection.Vere’s expression turned sheepish. Vector snickered a little.“Alright, point,” Velvet said with a sigh. No fingers. Bah, he thought to himself as he tucked his head back down and went back to driving Vector insane. Not that this will limit my effectiveness, but a master likes to have all the tools possible to work with.“You’ll get your chance, Velvet, don’t worry,” Vere said. His hand trailed down Velvet’s spine to cup his ass and then back up again, back and forth. “I might kriff you first and then switch to Vector. You’re so pretty and ready for me, aren’t you?”Both Velvet and Vector moaned in agreement with that idea. Velvet did love a good spitroast.“Hmmm. Maybe we should both take Vector at the same time instead.”Now Vector was outright whining. He nudged his hips up into Velvet’s mouth. Velvet synced up the thrusts of his tongue to match, just because he could. His nose was filled with the scent of sex and arousal. He could feel the points of his sharp teeth just barely present. Not enough to actually cause damage; just enough to give Vector a little extra sensation as he opened and closed his jaw. He managed to get his nose right up under Vector’s balls. Normally, that would have helped stimulate his prostate. Now, Velvet was just guessing. From the desperate sounds coming out of Vector, it was a good guess.“Vere,” Vector pleaded.“Mmmm. You should jerk yourself off, Vector. Put your hand on your cock. Look how red it is. You’re dripping all over. I’m going to save myself for filling you up,” Vere said. His voice had taken on that calculating edge that he often got. That meant that there was an additional reason for having Vector jerk himself off rather than Vere doing it. What that might be, Velvet didn’t care. Vere had everything handled.Velvet settled in to thoroughly enjoy himself. He licked and sucked and nibbled with his barely sharp teeth. He nudged his nose against sensitive skin and spread Vector’s cheeks wide, making plenty of room for all kinds of exploration.He wasn’t sure how long it took, maybe a quarter of an hour, maybe more, but he wrung Vector’s orgasm out of him. Vector shivered and bucked under him. Slick gushed out of him in a very satisfying way.“Good,” Vere said. “Keep going. I want to see how many times we can get him off.”Vector cried out at that, something between a yell and a groan.Velvet sped up and added on gentle squeezing to Vector’s balls while he did so. Not enough to hurt -- Vector didn’t enjoy that -- just enough to give additional sensation to push him over the edge again.The second (or was it third now?) orgasm came quickly. Velvet wanted to purr with satisfaction.“How are those test results coming along, Carver?” Vere asked.Vector babbled something incoherent. Velvet slowed down his efforts and slowly stretched out his hands and arms.“... Uh. Um.” Carver coughed. Velvet took a moment to steal a look at him. Carver had settled into one of the chairs on the far side of the room and was busy quickly poking at a datapad. “Ahem. As far as we can tell, results came back clean. Contraceptives are working, assuming you three are still near enough to baseline Vod or human for the tests we have available to be reliable. We make no promises, mind you, but… as far as we can tell, you three will stay ad’ika-free.”“Kark yes,” Vere said. He was still standing next to the bed, leaning there.Oh. That was why he wasn’t jerking Vector off. He was making sure that Carver had the perfect view of the action. If he’d moved over to help out beyond the groping that he was doing on Velvet, he’d have blocked Carver’s view of Velvet and Vector.Nice. This was why Vere was a captain.“You on the bed,” Velvet said to Vere. Kriff, slick was running down his chin. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and then licked off the liquid. That was something to savor, not only for the flavor but also because it made Vector groan and Carver let out a very quiet whine.“Poor CMO,” Velvet said with a smug smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll help you out soon. Come on, Vector. I want to see you ride Vere.”The noise that Vector made wasn’t coherent. Still, he raised up his hand to get help being pulled up. Both Velvet and Vere helped him.They shuffled around and soon Vere was in Vector’s spot on the bed. His cock was looking delightfully plump as it waved in the air. To Velvet’s surprise, it seemed to be extending and contracting, alternating between being very long and thin, and shorter and very thick.“Oh that’ll be fun,” Velvet said with a grin.“Kriff,” Vector muttered. He was drenched in sweat and shaking a little. Velvet helped him straddle Vere’s waist.Before Vector could properly seat himself, Vere’s cock slid up and wrapped around Vector’s, stroking it up and down. Very suddenly, Vector leaned all of his weight on Velvet and swore.“I think you two are gonna have me coming dry,” Vector said as he rocked his hips into the strange frottage that was going on.Since Vector’s cunt was so wet that he was dripping, Velvet could only grin at him.Vector wrapped his hand around both of their dicks. “How the kriff do I get you inside of me?”Vere just groaned. “One second,” he said in a strained voice.His tentacle dick unwound itself from around Vector’s cock and snaked down to his cunt. A moment later, Vector let out a long moan and eased himself down.“Vod, kriff, this feels so weird and very karking good,” Vector said. He started rocking up and down, slowly at first and then gaining more speed.Vere’s hands dug into Vector’s waist as they moved together.Unwilling to let this opportunity slide, Velvet crawled back up onto the bed and pushed on Vector’s back so that he leaned forward. That gave Velvet a spectacular view and the space to start eating out Vector’s ass.The moment his tongue breached Vector’s rim, Vector let out a short scream and shuddered hard.
That’s four? Five? Shit, I lost count.
Vere didn’t slow down at all. He kept thrusting up into Vector. Slick from earlier had dripped down to cover Vector’s ass, which meant that now Velvet had a tasty treat.Or…Actually…That meant that maybe Velvet didn’t need to worry about lube. Vector was already so wet.Yeah, no, Carver would actually kill us all, he thought, holding back a snort of amusement. He looked around for additional supplies. Sure enough, Carver had thought of everything. There was a bottle of lube over on the table.“Carver, would you hand me that?” Velvet asked while pointing at the bottle. Just because he could, he casually jacked himself off as he asked. Kriff, he was so horny. As tight as Vector was bound to be with two cocks inside of him, Velvet didn’t think he would last long.Carver was staring at them with his mouth open and his eyes wide. He swallowed hard and nodded. “I. Sure. Yeah.”When he stood up, Velvet watched avidly as Carver adjusted his codpiece before he moved. That must really be chafing him right about now. Well, they’d fix that soon.Instead of grabbing the bottle of lube, Velvet just held out his hand in a cup shape. “Squeeze some out for me, please?”The look that Carver gave him was one part annoyed, one part frustrated, and three parts pure lust. Velvet batted his eyelashes and smiled as sweetly as he could.Carver closed his eyes and grumbled to himself, something about di’kut’la ARCs and kriffing shabuir’e. Then he squirted some lube into Velvet’s waiting hand.“I am definitely not joining you all until we figure out what’s going on with the whole egg thing,” Carver warned, sounding more like his grumpy self.“Challenge accepted, Vod,” Velvet said, grinning. He licked his lips and then leaned forward. “Kiss first?”All the wind left Carver’s body in a quick huff along with a tiny whine.“Just one kiss,” Velvet tried again, cooing softly. He was nearly leaning against Carver’s armor now.Carver licked his lips. Quick as could be, he pressed the gentlest of kisses on Velvet’s lips. Then he immediately stepped away and took his seat on the far side of the room.Just to make sure that Carver knew that Velvet had enjoyed that little show of affection, Velvet half-closed his eyes and moaned, making a show of licking his lips. “Mmm, so good to me,” he said as he lubed himself up.Kriff, that felt good. Almost as good as watching Carver’s tongue slowly drag over his own lips and the way his eyes darkened at the taste.“You-- hnng, ready to-- to join us?” Vere asked. He’d slowed down his kriffing while Velvet worked on chipping away at Carver’s resolve.“Oh yes,” Velvet said. “Hold still a moment.”Vector stilled in place, panting. Vere reached back to pull at Vector’s ass, spreading his cheeks to give Velvet a good target.“Kriff,” Velvet whispered. He could see where Vector was speared with Vere’s thick cock. Just the sight of it made Velvet’s dick twitch.He rested one hand on Vector’s back, steadying him, and with the other he pressed two fingers into Vector’s ass. It was a tight squeeze, if only because he could feel the full girth of Vere’s cock pressing up next to him, only separated by a thin layer of skin.“Oh kriff, you’re moving in there,” Velvet said with awe. He could feel Vere’s cock working side to side inside of Vector, wriggling around, twisting as Vector moaned into it.“Feels so karking good,” Vector gasped out. “Never been filled like this before. So hot. Kriff, Vere.” He shivered and suddenly squeezed down hard on Velvet’s fingers. He was coming again.“Ohhh nicely done, Vector,” Velvet said as he scissored his fingers open and closed. “Was that your fifth or sixth orgasm?”“Seventh,” Vector said. “Holy Force.”“Mmm, maybe time for another,” Velvet said. As carefully as he could, he moved forward and pressed the crown of his dick up against Vector’s hole.It was a tight space to get into. Vector leaned forward and shoved his hips back, giving Velvet more space. Vere’s cock just kept pumping in and out. Or maybe it was widening and thinning. Either way, the effect was obscene. Thick liquid dripped out of him where cock and cunt touched. Vector looked used in the best possible way.Velvet put his hands on Vector’s hips, covering Vere’s hands, and pulled them together, forcing his cock into Vector’s ass.After a long, slow push, he bottomed out.“Tight,” he said in a strangled voice. His dick felt squished and Velvet was absolutely on board with that, especially since it meant he could feel every undulation of Vere’s cock inside of Vector’s cunt.Vector’s body clenched down on them both. He gasped and moaned and jerked in their arms. “Good, good, kriff, yes, oh Force, kriff,” he kept muttering.Vere moaned along with him. “I need to… got to move. Please.”“Yes, do it, kriffing kriff me,” Vector snapped.Their movements were uncoordinated at first. Then they found a good rhythm. Velvet didn’t even bother trying to sync up with Vere’s thrusting. The way his tentacle dick moved, there would be no point. He just methodically pounded Vector’s ass for all he was worth.All he could hear was the slap of their bodies hitting, the wet squish of Vector’s holes being plundered, and the gasps and moans they all made. Velvet felt like he was burning up. Everything felt fantastic, everything smelled fantastic. He found himself hugging Vector close, pinching his nipples as he kriffed into him. Vere kept pulling Vector down into them both.“Yes, yes, please, yes, more, please, please,” Vector babbled endlessly. Velvet did his best to comply.The pleasure built up within, tightening in his gut until he spilled over with a cry. Suddenly there was far more liquid in the hole he was kriffing into. Velvet kept thrusting, forcing Vector’s body and Vere’s cock stuffed next to him to finish milking his orgasm out of him.With a final moan he pulled back. Come dripped out of Vector’s ass.Vector slumped over in relief, gasping and panting.Then his body stiffened and he cried out.Velvet watched as Vere’s cock swelled and a thick bulge worked its way up the shaft, into Vector’s cunt. With Vere’s cock around it, the shaft swelled up to the size of a fist. The moment that large knot moved into Vector’s cunt, he cried out with pleasure.It worked its way inside and disappeared.Then another bulged up the shaft and squeezed into Vector’s cunt.And another.And another.Each time, Vector howled with bliss and shook in Velvet’s arms. From the way his pretty ass clenched down, pulsing open and closed, he was coming every single time.One more pressed its way inside of Vector before the intrusions stopped. Vere’s cock dwindled down to normal size and slipped out with a soft plop.Thick come oozed out of Vector as he knelt in place and breathed like he’d been running all day.“Kriff,” Velvet said quietly, eyes wide. “I think we figured out how those eggs come out.”Both Vector and Vere just moaned.With Velvet’s help, Vector laid down next to Vere and just breathed. There was a slight bulge in his lower abdomen.Velvet couldn’t help but keep Vector’s legs splayed open, one tossed over Vere’s thighs and one over the side of the bed. His cunt and ass both gaped open and he was drenched in various fluids. His own come had spread across his cock, stomach, and chest.Vere looked equally ruined, flushed and covered with spend. His cock lay soft against his thigh as he blinked and stared at the ceiling.“That was hot as kriff,” Velvet said. “You alright, Vector?”“Very much yes,” Vector wheezed out. “That was ridiculously good.” His hand lay over the slight mound that was his lower abdomen. “Not wild about the idea of eggs inside of me, but kriff it felt, it feels, really karking good. Nnnnnghh. I got off so many times. I think my brain melted.”“Same,” Vere said. “Shit, I think my dick is dead. I came so hard. Felt every single one of those eggs like its own orgasm.”“May I come closer to scan you both?” Carver asked.Velvet had forgotten he was there. His first instinct was to snarl at whoever had interrupted them. But that was Carver. Carver was fine. This was good. Carver could join them if he wanted to.Or better yet, Carver could join them.Velvet smiled and nodded.Vere waved his acceptance and Vector grunted out an affirmative.The next several minutes were spent with Carver poking and prodding all of them, taking scans, taking fluid samples -- which wasn’t nearly as sexy as Velvet wanted it to be -- and in general taking a ridiculous amount of notes.“Well, will we live?” Velvet said with a tired wave. He wasn’t nearly as wrung out as the other two, so he sat on the edge of the bed and kept an eye on the door so that Carver could do his work uninterrupted. That was the whole reason. It would make Carver feel better. Not that Velvet was watching to make sure that he felt more settled.That thought niggled in the back of his head. He vowed to deal with it later. Right now he was too hyped up on great sex to worry too much about it.Carver gently prodded Vector a lot.“From the looks of the scans, you should be able to expel these quickly,” Carver said. “There’s no attachment to the uterine lining happening.” He poked at the scanner and carefully nudged at Vector’s belly, causing Vector to moan softly. “Does that hurt?”“No,” Vector said. “Just feels weird. Kinda good? But maybe only because I’m still buzzing from the sex.”“Hmm.” Carver nudged again. Then he bit his bottom lip and took a step back. “You have a few options here. You can just leave them and see when they come out on their own. Or perhaps dissolve, since they aren’t fertilized. Or we can take them out.”“How?” Vector asked.Carver shrugged. “By hand, probably? That might be pretty uncomfortable for you.”Vector’s eyes fluttered shut and he groaned. “Ohhhh fisting but in reverse. Kriff, you all are wearing me out all at once.”Carver snorted. “Alright, maybe not uncomfortable. But yeah, by hand would probably be the least traumatic. Or…” He eyed Vere’s crotch. “Maybe Vere’s cock could grab the eggs and pull them out. I don’t know how dextrous he is.”“Ohhh we should try that first,” Vere said. Vector nodded quickly in agreement.Velvet grinned. He loved his Vod’e.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Captain Rex ---Kuo's grumbling about the Vod'e in general and Kote in particular was always hilarious to listen to, and, for once, Rex could laugh at both Kuo and his riduur."How the actual kriff do your Vod'e always manage to find trouble no one knows how to kriffing get them back out of?" The ver'alor asked, his tone long-suffering.Rex shrugged. "I'd tell you-- no, I'd stop them if I knew.""Doubt you could," Kuo grumbled. "More curiosity in one singular trooper than any dozen tookas."Laughing, Rex had to concede the point. "You're not wrong about that.""How much longer are they stuck in quarantine?""No idea." Rex ran a gloved hand over his scalp and noted absently that he'd need to buzz his hair back down again soon. "Based on what I've heard, it's likely to be another three or four rotations before we can collect Cody's ARCs and get underway. I'll keep you informed, but right now I have as much confirmed intel on our timeline for departure as you do."Muttering imprecations under his breath and letting his head fall back until he could beg the ceiling for patience, Kuo spent a few seconds just verbally venting his emotions on something that wouldn't care. Rex knew the feeling. Cody and his troopers inspired it in him often enough."Go have a bite to eat and drink some caf," Rex suggested. "That usually calms you down."Kuo gave him a look that said he was tempted to bitch him out, at that, but carefully mastered himself before he turned and left Obi-Wan's quarters without another word.Rex watched him go, amused. Kuo had the legendarily short fuse that all mando'ad'e were known for having, but also the control not to let it get the better of him at the wrong moment. It was what made him such a good ver'alor and a good liaison to bridge the gap between Kote and the Council.When Kuo wasn't shouting at the Council, himself, at least.Making himself a cup of caf, because he could, and preparing one to bring to Kote, who was attempting to wring intel out of the various Battalion Medics still populating the Healing Halls, Rex spared a moment to hope that Obi-Wan, Master Windu, Fox, and Master Plo would find a way to get them some good news about that artefact, and soon.All four of them were pushing themselves to their limits and beyond, really, working on the kriffing thing from before local sunrise until late in the sleep cycle. Master Billaba, her padawan Caleb, a rotation of Corries, Skywalker, and Tano were all riding herd on them, making sure they ate and helping out as they could. It was still sometimes a bit touch-and-go, putting Skywalker and Fox in the same room, but Fox was no doubt so hyperfocused that he was barely paying his surroundings any attention beyond making sure they were still secure. Having some of his Corries present to keep an eye on things for him was sure to be the deciding factor, there, Rex reflected as he walked the corridors of the Temple, aiming to join Kote and get the latest intel for himself.No one else ambushed him looking for intel before he got to the Healing Halls. Thankfully.As much as he hated it when it was his ARCs getting into trouble, and as much as he was relieved they hadn't been the ones to cause this debacle, it was frustrating as ever to worry and wait without confirmed information.He'd always hated the waiting.Shoving those thoughts aside as he entered the healing halls, Rex looked around, taking in the scene. Things seemed fairly calm at the moment. The majority of the Vod medics present were hunched over data terminals or running analyses. Tranq and Splint looked tense enough to pull a muscle, if they moved wrong. The others, though, were way calmer. More relaxed. Kote stood off to one side, talking quietly to Kix and Rayn. Storm stood beside his colleagues, a bemused look on his face."-- just want to know when I can finally go see my ARCs," Kote was grumbling. "Is that so much to ask, for kriff's sake?"Rex handed his riduur a caf that was accepted automatically. Kote had taken off his buy'ce and tucked it under his arm to talk to the trio of medics.Kix gave him an amused look. Rex took a sip of his own caf, and stepped up to stand next to Kote. "What did I miss?"Storm snickered and Rayn made a face at his batcher. Kix shrugged. "Your ARCs, Marshal Commander, are currently very much occupied."Rex raised an eyebrow at his CMO. "With?""Each other," Rayn snarked. "The moment we let them into the same room, they started kriffing.""And?" Kote glared at them. "It's not like that's ever bothered me before.""And we're still working to determine whether the ... changes to their biology and physiology are contagious through sexual contact," Kix said firmly.Rex sighed. "Of kriffing course, they'd get themselves a karking Force infection.""There's every chance it won't be transmissible that way," Storm picked up the thread, "or through any of the other common vectors, but until we can confirm that, we're being careful. The Wolfpack has been allowed company besides their medics, because they've all shown far more distress than your trio. They need the physical contact."Rex winced. Kote started to try again, his need to see his ARCs and be karking sure they were alright spurring him on, and was cut off before he could speak by a commotion from across the Halls."Come on, Carver, kriff, let me see!""No." Carver flatly denied Tranq whatever it was he wanted, shoving a datapad at Kote's CMO instead, and then hastily shut and locked the door again.Tranq, now the centre of everyone's attention, just stared blankly at the closed door for a moment, then down at the datapad. "Huh.""Well?" Kote asked, raising his voice a little, to be heard. "What's the news?""Give us a few minutes to read what Carver wrote, for kriff's sake," his CMO answered. "But judging by Carver's demeanour, they're probably fine."Probably.Rex eyed the datapad, half tempted to see if he could steal it. Carver was a Corrie. What they considered "fine" vastly differed from what any of the other CMOs would have. Much less another Vod or a jetii. But, then again, Rex reflected sourly, there were also plenty of jetiise who didn't know the definition of the word "uninjured".Kote was almost certainly following a similar line of thinking. Rex could all but feel the tension rising in his riduur again.Kix snickered at them. "Try it," he said, his smirk audible. "Let's see what happens."Yeah, no. Rex knew better than to kriff with a medic.So did Kote, but Kote was worried. Possibly worried enough to try anyway. Carefully, Rex put a hand on Kote's shoulder, pressing down a little. Just enough to remind his riduur that whatever he was planning was likely to be a very bad idea.Kote turned to glare darkly at him. Rex ignored the look as best he could. "And Wolffe," he asked Kix, trying to divert his riduur, "he holding up alright? Do we need to go help hug the Wolfpack?"Kix shrugged. "I haven't been in the room to check on them in a while, but they should be alright. Wolffe is in there along with a squad of Corries, and Splint seemed a lot less upset himself, after his last check in with them. I'm cautiously optimistic."Kote relaxed a little, some of the tension leaving his arms and shoulders. "Good," he said on a sigh. "That's good."Storm rolled his eyes and muttered, "Considering your or'dinii'se are likely to be having a kriffing orgy in there, it's just as well the tests we did earlier all came back negative.""The last thing we need is one of them getting pregnant," Rayn agreed.Rex's jaw dropped."Excuse me what?" Kote stared blankly at his medic."Well that's one way to break the news," Kix grumbled. "For kriff's sake, Vod.""Wait, it's not a joke?" Rex asked, incredulously. "Is that an actual concern, right now?""Well, it was, potentially," Kix admitted with a glare directed at the other two medics. "But thank the Force, standard human and near-human contraception still seems to be effective, despite their new... configurations."Rex had to take a few seconds to process that. "I take it this isn't cleared for dissemination yet.""No, Captain," Kix answered formally.Kote nodded. "Noted."A short silence caught and held as they watched Tranq read through the contents of the datapad, occasionally scrubbing his face with his hands. Splint was reading over Tranq's shoulder and making vaguely horrified faces."Is that gonna be a problem?" Kote asked Kix, pointing at the pair with his chin."Tranq is reading through Carver's notes on what I suspect is the threesome that he was being spotter for. That's not for your eyes. And besides. I suspect you'll be able to ask them about their experiences yourself, soon enough."Rex had to roll his eyes. "If they're feeling fine enough to instigate a threesome, they'll be trying to break out of the Halls soon.""Believe me, we know," Kix told him, strong exasperation in his tone. "As soon as it's confirmed safe for unaltered Vod'e and other beings to be in contact with them, we fully intend to make those three Commander Cody's problem again."Kote gave him a slightly sour look, but accepted that with reasonable grace. "Keep me informed," he demanded, as though the medics wouldn't have done that anyway."Get out of here," Storm suggested, "and go deal with your duties. We'll handle your ARCs, you handle the things only you can do."Rayn snorted. "We've all seen how your Council needs their hands held.""We'll let you know when they're cleared for visitors," Kix added. "Carver will take good care of them, and knows to call the rest of us when we're needed.""Wait," Rex had to ask, a slightly horrifying thought occurring to him, "is CMO Carver joining them?""Out. Of. The Halls." Kix shook his head at him, and refused to answer that. Typical.Tellingly, Kote gave in and turned for the doors, pulling his buy'ce back on as he moved. Rex bit back the rest of his words and tried to stare Kix down, knowing he'd be unsuccessful.Kix just stared back, levelly, as the other two medics with him snickered at them, until Rex conceded defeat and followed Kote's example.Kriff, Rex half hoped that Carver would join that trio and let himself get laid so well he smiled for a week. That medic deserved every scrap of joy they could give him, after the nightmare he'd lived through during his time in the Senate Dome. But on the other hand, if the medics still weren't sure this... whatever it was... this change... was transmissible... Carver was risking his own bodily autonomy, if he did let those three ARCs have sex with him.Did that mean the medics thought he'd be safe? Or had Carver told them off? Rex had just seen how willing Carver was to stand his ground against another CMO, given the way he'd shut Tranq down immediately.So many questions, and he had answers to none of them.Biting down on a sigh, Rex tried to shove his worries back into a box and away. "Do you have any comm calls to make, riduur?" he asked over their private line.Kote muttered a few curses under his breath. "Nothing urgent," he answered. "Everything can wait a few hours or a rotation."Rex nodded. "Then I say we spend some time in the baths, and then hug it out," he suggested. "Or we could go have sex in the shower, if you want.""Or both?" Kote suggested, sounding far happier than before.Rex snickered. "Both sounds good." --- POV: Carver ---Carver took a moment to rest his forehead on the closed and locked door before turning around.
They aren’t trying to make this difficult for me.
Nope, Carver couldn’t even lie to himself like that in his own head with a straight face. They absolutely were trying to make this difficult for him. The way that Vere had gone out of his way to make sure Carver had a perfect view of Velvet’s tongue in action was unfair.Medically interesting, which was why Carver hadn’t complained much, but unfair.He took a moment to adjust his codpiece. Kriff. Holo porn didn’t really do much for him as a rule. Watching a Vod whom he liked and had been intimate with in the past, several times, while he deliberately put on a show was something else entirely.
Making sure that they are healthy, non-contagious, and comfortable with these new changes is the priority. My everything-else can wait.
He took a slow breath, thought un-sexy thoughts, and straightened himself up. It was time to tackle the next problem.Sure enough, there the three V’s were, also attempting to tackle the next problem.“--really think that it’s gonna take me more than a few minutes to get it up again,” Vere said reluctantly as he fondled his tentacle. The poor thing curled a bit at the end but otherwise endured the loose pumping with little resistance.“Like trying to make your arms lift heavy weights after working on lifting tank treads all day,” Velvet mused, eyeing Vere’s crotch. “Your dick muscles are tired after pumping out all those eggs. Wait. Does your dick have muscles now? How does that work?”Vere shrugged.Both he and Velvet were perched on the bed, each with a hand on Vector, absently petting him.Vector was still laying sprawled on the bed, leaking fluids and looking a tiny bit full in the lower stomach area. There was a half-smile on his face and a healthy flush to his skin.“As far as we can tell, yes, there are muscles,” Carver said as he walked over to them. He grabbed another datapad along the way, ready to take more notes. The samples he’d taken looked promising. Tranq was already inputting them into their shared datapad system. Test results would begin returning quickly.“I’m going to have to work on that,” Vere muttered, looking mildly annoyed.“How many times have you already gotten off today?” Carver stared incredulously. Then he shook his head. “Nevermind. That’s a lost cause to argue. Yes, feel free to work your dick out, but listen to your body. Rest when you need to. Also, come here, I want to take another scan of you so we can mark how quickly your body remakes those eggs. And all three of you need to take a drink and get something to eat.”He passed the next short amount of time getting them refreshed with food and drink, or in Velvet’s case, food, drink, and blood. Again, Velvet drank only a half-pint or so of pure humanoid blood before he was sated. This was less than he’d had earlier. Perhaps he truly didn’t need much per day? Carver took copious notes, scans, and samples. It was enough to distract him from how all three of those bastards kept showing themselves off in the sexiest way possible.Though, admittedly, for Vector that was mostly accidental. The way that Velvet and Vere cleaned him up was very much not accidental. They kissed him and gently fingered him, stretched his holes open wide so that Carver had a good look at how messy he was.After all of that was mostly handled, there wasn’t anything else to do but get those eggs out. Somehow. Vere still didn’t look revived enough to attempt this himself.Carver closed his eyes and sighed.“You have two options, Vector,” he said finally. “The situation has changed a little bit, since Vere's too tired to use his tentacle for this. One: you leave the eggs in. As far as I can tell, they’ll harmlessly dissolve over the next day or two, based on their composition. Fertilized, they might harden, but that hasn’t happened and mostly they’re just sitting there inside of you. Other option is I take them out.”“With your hands or--” Vector dragged out the last word, implying a question.Carver couldn’t help but move in closer and lay a hand on Vector’s lower abdomen, right where that bump was. He pressed down a little bit. Vector squirmed in place and let out a breathy moan.“That feels so weird and really good at the same time,” Vector said.Well, that was better than it hurting. Carver very specifically did not think of a few extremely terrible things that had happened during the war.He closed his eyes. “Don’t ask me how I know this will work, but the first thing I’ll try is just inserting my hand. That should get the ones closest to your uterine opening. Scans show that your, well, cervix, for lack of a better word, isn’t as firm as it is in baseline humanoids. Which means I’ll be able to reach into you and carefully push some eggs out. I may also end up using a suction tool to help. It’s very gentle and it shouldn’t hurt. If it does hurt, you can be administered anaesthesia.”“Mmmmm, I want to see that,” Velvet muttered.“Not helping,” Carver muttered back.Vector snickered and looked at Carver from under his lashes. “I’d love for you to use your hands on me.” He rolled his hips for emphasis.Dammit.Carver was looking. He couldn’t not look. Especially not with how Vector was slowly rubbing one hand over his own groin, causing another trickle of milky fluid to leak out of his hole.
That shouldn’t be anywhere near as sexy as it is.
Just like with Velvet, Carver had to ask. He had to. “Do you want this to be… more professional? Or…”“No,” all three of them said, all of them grinning.Carver swore under his breath.He took a step away to a nearby table to remove the armor on his arms. The prepwork was automatic, a very good thing since his brain was running around in useless circles about how much they clearly wanted him to join them and how much he found he really wanted to.Just in case something unexpected happened, Carver paused to take blood samples for himself. He’d already updated his contraceptive hypo yesterday. There was no telling how the situation would devolve. Carver had known that yesterday after his little incident with Velvet and his fangs.From there he rolled up the arms of his blacks and put on elbow-length gloves.“Move up to the edge of the bed so I can have a good angle to get those out of you,” Carver said as he walked back to them. “And you will tell me if you are in any pain, do you understand me, trooper?” He glared fiercely at Vector to get the point across.Vector’s eyes went wide and he swallowed hard. “Sir, yes, sir.” The answer was so fast that it had to be automatic.Velvet grinned. Vere’s eyebrows hit his hairline and there was a touch of a smirk on his face, as if he was both shocked and a bit pleased.Carver’s face burned with a blush. That just made him scowl more, this time at Velvet, daring him to say anything. Velvet wisely didn’t let out a peep. He just grinned more.After shifting around and Carver dragging his chair over, he had a good view of Vector’s nether region. To make the position more comfortable for Vector, he pulled out a couple of slim table extenders for Vector to rest his feet on.There. All better. Still a vulnerable position, which was regrettable, but Vector had his cyare’se next to him. That would help. Carver glanced at the door again, reassuring himself that it was locked.“Once more, you definitely want me to make this sensual and pleasurable for you, in addition to doing my duty as a medic to be careful?” Carver knew that he was overthinking this. That didn’t stop him from needing to be sure, to keep his own anxiety down, if nothing else.“Yes, please,” Vector said.At a glance, Velvet and Vere nodded along.
Whelp. In for a blaster, in for a star destroyer.
Carver started by resting one hand on the crease right between Vector’s thigh and groin. “Vere, I’d like you to keep a hand on Vector’s lower abdomen. Don’t push. Just rest your hand there.”“Ooooh this should be very interesting,” Vere said with some amusement. He not only put his hand there, he slowly rubbed a circle over the little bulge in Vector’s torso. “There you go, relax for us, Vod.”A little bit of tension went out of Vector’s body. Good. That was good.Carver traced his thumb up and down Vector’s puffy folds, still so red and loose from the kriffing he’d received.“We’ve got you, Vector,” Carver said softly. “I want you to listen to Vere and relax.” He noted how Vector’s cock had swelled just a little and his holes both opened and closed a little, flexing as Vector squirmed.Carver had to shift in place. This was the weirdest exam he’d ever participated in.Not bad, though. Not bad at all. He’d been worried that this would bring up bad memories for him. Maybe it was how happy the three ARCs looked or how obviously pleased they were with each other, but nothing had given Carver that shaky feeling that he got sometimes when something hit too close to a memory that he’d rather not relive.Rather than immediately pushing into Vector, instead he dug some lube out from the underside of the table and thoroughly slicked up both of his hands, and then spread that fluid all over Vector’s balls and cock, even pausing to give him a slow jerk or two.“Kriff, yeah, that’s good,” Vector said quietly. He wasn’t hardening up fast, but given the previous several hours, that wasn’t a surprise.Carver took his time fondling Vector all over. He enjoyed the soft weight of Vector’s balls, rubbed that tender spot right under them, and ran his fingers around his rim.“Kriff.” Velvet was back to jerking himself off next to them.“Don’t worry, Velvet,” Carver said reassuringly, “I’ll put you to good use soon. First, I want to make sure your teeth are behaving.”Anticipating what he wanted, Velvet opened his mouth to show off his half-sharpened teeth. His eyes were dark with arousal.“Good,” Carver said. A little thrill ran through him at how willing Velvet was. He liked knowing that his partner was as eager as he was. Well. Partners, plural, in this case. Sort of.“Can I suck you off while you fist him?” Velvet asked with large, pleading eyes.“No,” Carver said with no little reluctance. He would need his brain functioning in order to do his job painlessly and well. Before Velvet could pout much, he added, “You can suck off Vector.”“Oh kriff,” Vector said as he squirmed in place.Right before Velvet could get his mouth on Vector’s decee, Carver stopped him with a light tap on the jaw.“Slowly,” Carver said firmly. “Soft and slow. The goal here isn’t to get him off, it’s to make this next part pleasant rather than uncomfortable. Make his brain float, not melt.”Vector let out a low nggggggh at that. Velvet just flashed Carver a grin and got to work. Kriff, that was hot.Carver shot Vere a hesitant glance. This was so far beyond Carver’s comfort zone that he was feeling extra careful of stepping on anyone’s toes. Everyone knew that Velvet and Vector were Vere’s. Those three belonged to each other the way other Vod’e belonged to their riduur’e.Vere’s answering smile was a smug curling of his lips. He nodded encouragingly.Good. That was one more hurdle down.On reflex, Carver took a look at the door. Still locked. Flutter, Kix, and Tranq were on the other side. No one would interrupt them, not for anything short of a catastrophe.While Velvet slowly and methodically bobbed his head up and down on Vector’s quickly hardening cock, Carver went back to exploring Vector’s body. This time, he slipped the occasional finger in and out of his cunt and ass, testing how ready he was. If Carver’s heart beat like thunder in his own ears and his cock strained against his armor, that was his own business.He let them both work on Vector’s resolve for a few minutes, making sure he was nice and comfortable.“Vere, do you feel any movement?” Carver asked quietly. He didn’t think there would be, but it was worth it to check.“No. Should I?” Vere asked, hand still rubbing circles on Vector’s stomach. His other hand was occupied with gently stroking his tentacle.Carver shook his head, and then spoke aloud for Vector’s benefit. “Not yet. Vector, I’m going to start easing into you, alright?”“Kriff, yes please.”Maybe I should start with the suction wand.That was just pure nerves talking. Carver hadn’t ever done this… not for pleasure. Not mixing medical procedure with something sexy. None of his Guards would have been able to bear it. Sith-hells, Carver would have never suggested it. But these three… kriff, they existed to drive others to distraction, and seemed to delight in doing that to Carver in particular.With that in mind, he bunched his fingers together and slid his hand slowly into Vector’s wet cunt.Kriff, kriff, kriff, he kept tightening up, clenching down on Carver’s fist as he moaned happily. “Kark, yes, right there, kriff.”Just for the sheer fun of it, Carver slid his hand in and out, just a few inches, not enough to fully reach the end of Vector’s canal and not enough to pull out.
...Let’s see, if this were his ass, his prostate would be… here…
Vector arched up and let out a sharp whimper. That move shoved his cock deep into Velvet’s throat, a thing that Carver knew Velvet loved. The soft guh sound Velvet made was followed by a deep hum of approval, which in turn just made Vector twist in place.Carver smiled sharply.“Sensitive there, huh,” he said casually. He twisted his hand so the ridge of his knuckles went right over that tender spot, back and forth.Vector squirmed and whined as his cunt tightened down on Carver’s hand.Kriff, this was far more fun than it should be.That gave him a thought.“Vector, do you want to get off?” he asked.Vector just cursed at him in between moans.“That’s a solid maybe,” Carver muttered as he twisted his hand side to side. Not too fast. Since Vector was still on the fence, now wasn’t the right time for an orgasm. Soon, though. All he needed to do was build up the pleasure until Vector’s body would work with him. In theory.So Carver teased and rubbed and twisted, never enough to really get Vector off, but enough to hopefully work him up into a frenzy.All of the attention that Carver was putting into Vector made it easy to forget how insistently his own body was begging for release.After a fair amount of time, Carver began pushing farther into Vector’s cunt. In and out, just barely touching the end and then back out again, until Vector was rolling his hips and begging for him to keep going.It was around then that Carver realized that his mouth was as dry as a desert. It took a couple of swallows for him to get any words out.“Vere, I want you to press down on Vector’s stomach, right where that bulge is,” Carver said. For whatever reason, his voice was a little breathier than usual. He tossed that fact aside. His job was to care for these three, not himself, not right now.As Vector cried out in want, Carver could feel the eggs inside of him bulge down, now lovingly lubricated and the way held open by Carver’s hand. With his free hand, he searched around for a bedpan or tray or something.“Vere. I need something to put the eggs in,” Carver said.A moment later, the sample tray he’d left on the table was deposited on the floor between his legs. Good enough.“Good.” Carver spared a moment to wipe his forehead, and then grabbed the tray to hold on his lap. It was awkward, but he wanted that container as close as possible.“Alright, Vector, I want you to squeeze for me,” Carver said as he continued to fist-kriff Vector’s hole. The air smelled of sex and Carver wanted nothing more than to shove his dick into that wet cunt rather than his hand.He could feel Vector’s body clench down… but nothing really moved. That wasn’t unexpected. Not really. This would no doubt be strange and different for him.Probably. Carver shoved that thought aside.He sped up his hand, rubbing hard into Vector’s prostate and tightening his hand into a fist. Vector was outright crying at every push inward.“Velvet, make him come,” Carver ordered.Velvet sucked faster.“Vector, come. Now.” Carver hoped that this would work.“Do it, Vod, come for us,” Vere said, reinforcing the order.Vector orgasmed with a scream. Vere may have pushed down at the same time, because Carver could feel those eggs start to move. He pulled his fist out quickly, making room for them to come out.Two tight shudders from Vector passed and then the first egg slipped out of him. Then a second.“Should have asked if he’d ever taken a hand up his ass, too,” Carver thought out loud. Being able to help from that angle would probably make this go smoother.“Again, Vector,” Carver said louder. “Draw that feeling out. Squeeze down. Vere, keep pressing.”A third egg slowly made its way out as well. Then Vector shivered and slumped down, panting. “Kriffing kriff,” he murmured in between gasps.Carver petted his inner thigh while Velvet slowed down his sucking.“You did so well, Vector,” Carver said. “Beautiful. You’re gorgeous, coming like that for us. Absolutely stunning.”All Carver wanted to do was start laying kisses on the inside of Vector’s thigh but he knew damn well that if he started, he wouldn’t stop.He gave Vector a moment to breathe and then dug around in the compartments under the exam table for that suction wand.“Are you… nngh, are you going to… uhh… do that… ngh… again?” Vector asked.“No,” Carver answered, somewhat apologetically. “I think that the only reason that worked was because you were so full. Now, we’ll use the suction rod. It’s very thin. I think after my hand, you won’t hardly feel it. Just relax and let me work.”Before Vector could get worked up, Carver lubed up the rod and inserted it into Vector’s cunt. With the aid of a scanner, he was able to position it fairly quickly and carefully latch on to one of the remaining eggs. He slowly pulled it out. As expected, it went easily. The last egg was extracted in seconds, easier still now that Carver knew what to do.A moment later he was looking at five eggs in a tray and Vector’s exhausted body dripping once again. It took everything he had to not readjust his codpiece. Again. Kriff. The last thing he needed was lube, come, and slick spread all over himself.
Thank the Force that went easily.
He stood up to do some more scans. He was fairly sure that there were only five eggs in total but it was better to check and be certain.“Force, that was hot,” Vere said as he petted Vector’s head.“It really was.” Velvet nodded in agreement.Both of them were slowly jerking themselves off. All three of them looked positively debauched and extremely happy about it.Carver dragged his attention to his scanner. “Only the five,” he said with relief. “You’re all clear.” For now, anyways. He bit back a grimace and stepped away before he did something that he might regret in the long term. Not the short term, though. Velvet and his dinii’la batchers would make the short term pretty un-kriffing-believable. That was as good as fact.Now wasn’t the time to think about it.Dammit.Carver typed in his observations, started scans on the eggs, and wiped off his face. He felt like he was melting. The soft, slick sounds and delighted murmuring coming from behind him didn’t help.“All three of you need to go take some time in the ‘fresher,” Carver said without looking back at them. He was a strong being but even he had limits, and after a day of watching them tease him and kriff each other, he was perilously close to them.
Vector was so pretty with Velvet’s mouth on him.
Carver cut that thought off.“Go on,” he said instead. “To the ‘fresher. Clean up, take a minute to relieve yourselves, and lock the karking door.” That last bit came out pissier than he’d wanted it to.The soft wet sounds stopped.“Why?” Velvet asked. He sounded worried.Carver turned to half-glare at them. He couldn’t even muster enough energy to be properly intimidating. “Because I’m going to have some assistants come in here to clean the room and drop off food. It’s nearly time for latemeal and--” He closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face.This was fine. They didn’t need to be behind a locked door. Carver knew that. He also somehow couldn’t bear the idea of the three of them being so vulnerable while others, even Vod medics, came in to set them up for the rest of the night. He was also self-aware enough to realize that this was entirely unreasonable.“You--” Carver gritted his teeth, swallowed hard, and started again. “You don’t need to lock the door. You can stay in the room if you want. I just.” A hard shiver worked its way up his spine.He hated how many karking issues he still had with shit like this.“Nah,” Velvet said breezily. He’d already pulled one of Vector’s arms over his shoulders and was easing him up. “We’ll go lock ourselves in for some sexy shower time. You just knock when you’re comfortable with us coming out.”Carver shot Velvet a look of pure relief. Force bless him.Velvet winked back at him and urged his batchers into the attached ‘fresher.One hurdle down, Carver thought as he looked to the egg container. A few more to go…--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: CMO Carver ---The too-curious raised eyebrows from Kix and barely-contained leer from Tranq were not appreciated. Carver glared at them as he passed over the relevant sample containers.“Sooooooo,” Kix drew out as Flutter and Rayn quickly cleaned up the room around them.Carver just raised an eyebrow at them. If it weren’t for the fact that he was blushing bright as his armor markings, his unimpressed demeanour might have been more convincing. “The relevant information is in the datapad,” he said evenly.“Right.” Kix paused. “Good work.”Carver sighed and waited for them to get around to whatever-it-was they wanted to say.Flutter tossed him a glance along with a nearly invisible request for a status update, passed along in the extremely subtle body language signs that the Guard had mastered during the war.All clear, Carver sent back with a small tilt of his head and a lowering of his eyes. Flutter blinked back his acknowledgement and went about his duties. They’d have a full debrief later. It was SOP.Meanwhile, Kix and Tranq were busy exchanging significant glances of their own, if much less subtle.“You know,” Tranq started.Here we go. Carver steadied himself and slapped on his Professionally Irritated look.That made Tranq wince a bit and hold up his hands in preemptive surrender. “No, listen, this is nothing bad. We were just thinking…”“If you wanted to,” Kix said, jumping in.“Right, only if you wanted to, you could spend more time with these three,” Tranq finished. “All the tests we’ve done have come back negative for anything harmful or contagious. Your preliminary work on the eggs shows that they haven’t been fertilized. You know we’ll have them all under observation for another couple of days, at least. So… your shift is almost over anyways…”Carver put his face in his hands and did not curse out loud. As if he needed more encouragement to kriff around.“We’re all reasonably sure that they’re, you know… safe,” Kix said with a slightly lowered voice. As if Flutter and Rayn weren’t both listening as hard as they could. Not that it would matter much who heard this conversation if Carver did spend the night here; everyone would know.That in and of itself… surprisingly wasn’t terrible. The Vod’e didn’t much care who slept with whom. Carver just didn’t want to be teased. He’d end up shouting and then he might have to go stab someone and make more work for himself.He stared at the floor and tried very hard not to listen to the very faint sound of water running in the ‘fresher and the barely-audible laughter and chatter that floated over it.“Flutter and I have the door,” Kix said. “Later, we can switch off with Buttercup and Splint. I can make sure that at least one of the medics on door-watch is from your Battalion, if that would help.”Damn him, but that did help. A little bit of tension unwound from Carver’s shoulders.“Mhi gar hukaat’kama, Vod.” Tranq put a hand on Carver’s shoulder and gave him a squeeze. “You want to stay with Velvet and his batchers, that’s good with us. You don’t, that’s fine too. It’s up to you. Either way, we left enough food so you could eat with them.” With one more admonishing look aimed towards Carver’s poor self-care skills, Tranq took himself out.Kix took a moment to lean into Carver’s side. An appreciated gesture of support because it meant that Carver’s hands were free. Not that they needed to be free. It was just something that made him less… twitchy. Sometimes. His Vod’e were too observant sometimes.“I saw that you listed your blood work in the collected data, too,” Kix mentioned, seemingly changing the subject.“There’s a sample from yesterday, too. In case I am contaminated, I want a timeline of when and how quickly that change happens. Right now, we don’t know if proximity will affect anything, or if direct contact will. So far there hasn’t been any--”Shit. Wait. Hadn’t Velvet kissed him? Carver licked his lips and remembered the flavor of that kiss.He let out a low growl. “Alright. Not much direct contact,” he admitted.Kix wisely didn’t comment. Even though it looked like he wanted to. At least Carver knew from past experience with Kix and Jesse that both of them knew when to keep their mouths shut about private matters.Assuming this stayed private and Carver didn’t catch some kind of Force STI. Granted, that was looking more and more unlikely, but still…“Keep us updated,” was all Kix said. “And for kriff’s sake, consider sleeping sometime tonight, too. Staying up and worrying won’t help your favorite kriff buddy.”My only kriff buddy, Carver thought with a snort of amusement. Kix and Jesse didn’t quite count. They let him join them for cuddling more than sex and even that wasn’t terribly often. They’d said he was welcome any time if he wanted, to help with the touch starvation. The infrequent nature of their meetups was more Carver’s choice than theirs; the two of them were a stable couple and Carver hadn’t wanted to intrude.Rayn took the dirty linens out. Flutter paused before he left as well, silently asking again if Carver was well.All clear. Just overwhelmed. Not in a bad way, Carver signed back to him in their own language. From the shift of his shoulders, Flutter understood and was relieved.As Flutter stepped through the door, he tapped out a code on the door frame. Guard is watching. Rest easy.That was another relief.Clearly, Kix had picked up on that bit of slang, likely from their time spent together. He smiled and gave Carver another nudge on the shoulder. “Drink plenty of fluids.”“Yeah, yeah,” Carver said, feeling equal parts fond and grumpy.After Kix took himself out, Carver locked the door behind him. Then he sat down and took Tranq’s good advice and quickly ate something like a meal. He prodded through the updates on several ongoing tests and their results as he ate.Sure enough, everything was coming back clear. The samples taken from the ARCs were stable and nonreactive. No unknown or dangerous compounds. No unexpected fertilizations. There were changes to their normal physiology, yes, but nothing that looked like it would be harmful to them or to others. Master Che had made a note about an increased Force presence in Sinker. That little tidbit was curious. Carver mulled over it as he chewed.Like all Vod’e, Carver ate quickly. Once he was done, he double checked the door and went to knock on the ‘fresher. They’d been in there long enough to get clean, at least, and maybe ambitiously get off another time or two. As long as they didn’t go laying more eggs, they were probably all fine.Carver had his scanning equipment ready when they finally came out, wet but clean.… And still aroused. Because of course.“You didn’t get off in the shower?” he asked, feeling both surprised and a bit exasperated.“We didn’t want you missing out,” Velvet purred at him.… Literally purred a little. His voice was low and growly.Carver didn’t acknowledge how that tone made his decee perk right up again. “I need to scan Vere again to see if he’s developed more eggs already.”“Wait, that’s a possibility?” Vere asked, somewhat horrified.Carver shrugged. “Let’s find out.”Vector had already collapsed on the freshly made bed and was burrowing into the blankets there. “Let me know when you’re done. I want to cuddle. Kriff.”Several tense minutes later, Carver was able to happily report that based on current development, the eggs might take a day or two to reform.“That may change based on caloric intake,” he cautioned. “Eat, all of you, and we’ll run the tests again.”The three of them acquiesced with little complaint.None of them put on clothes.Velvet and Vere were still at least semi-hard. Velvet kept licking his fangs and eyeing Carver. That was not distracting at all. Not even a little.Kriff, Carver was so screwed.The post-latemeal scans came up with similar results.“Well, that’s a bit of a relief,” Vere said, somewhat philosophically. “The egg laying thing was fun as kriff, but I’d like to have regular sex, too.”“It was really intense,” Vector said with a nod.Velvet just let out a soft whine. “I want to bite someone.” The way he was glancing back and forth between Vere and Carver, he couldn’t decide who that was going to be.“Still feeling thirsty?” Carver asked. He handed over the half-full bottle of blood that Velvet had been drinking out of.Velvet shook his head and let out a frustrated little noise. “No. I just. I feel like…” His lips curled up to show off his very impressive looking fangs. It didn’t seem like he was trying to be intimidating.Perhaps more of an instinctive expression, then.“May I look?” Carver asked, already slipping on a glove.“Yes, please,” Velvet said too quickly.Before Carver even had a chance to stand up out of his chair, Velvet had slipped out of bed and was kneeling on the floor next to him. His mouth was open and his tongue laid flat, like he was awaiting inspection.Kriff kriff kriff. Carver’s breath caught in his throat.“So pretty,” Carver said softly.Then he closed his eyes and got a hold of himself. This… kriff. He couldn’t let this go on without being clear about what they were all getting into.“Velvet, do you want me to--”“Carver, I’ve wanted to get my mouth on you all karking day, and if this is how I can start that, then yes, please.”Carver opened his eyes to see Velvet’s lips pursed with irritation.“Oh.”Velvet rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Oh.” He gave Carver a playful grin. “So. Since we’re safe… wanna get sucked off? Or kriffed? Or whatever you like, really. You don’t have any hard kinks that I don’t like.”Words escaped Carver for a moment as he thought through all the things he wanted to do.“And can we watch?” Vere asked. “Or join in? You’ve taken such good care of us, especially Vector and Velvet. I’d love to return the favor.” His smile was pure sex and the blanket that he had draped over his lap didn’t really cover anything important.Carver’s throat dried right up. He swallowed hard. Reflexively, he glanced at the door again. Still locked, of course it was, and he knew karking well that Flutter was watching the hall to make sure no one would interrupt them.“Yeah, you’re safe with us,” Velvet crooned at him as he leaned in, his mouth just inches away from Carver’s.“I’m not, er…” Carver blushed.“Experienced?” Velvet snickered. “You’re better than you were, and you pick up skills fast. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of you.”Carver licked his lips and brought up one hand so he could rub his thumb over Velvet’s chin. “What if I want to take care of you?”Velvet’s eyes shone and his grin was infectious. “Fine with me.”“I--” Carver couldn’t stop staring at Velvet’s mouth. “I-- ‘Fresher. Be right back.”He made a hasty retreat, and then promptly kicked himself right as he shut the door behind him.His face burned with blushes. For kriff’s sake, I just spent the whole day watching them kriff and I’m still this damn shy.He took a minute to breathe and get himself under control. Then he went to refresh himself. Might as well, since he was there.Five minutes after that, Carver felt nearly calm again. Kriff, it was hard to think with Velvet being so damn tempting right there. One sultry glance and a lick across those plush lips, and Carver’s brain went straight to taffy.This is fine. I want this. I knew that I wanted this last night. Just. Think about limits, go in and say them clearly first, and then. Then. Carver gave his dick a squeeze and resettled his armor into place.After another minute or two to catch his breath, Carver stepped back into the room.“Sorry,” he said. He couldn’t look at them.“It’s fine.” Velvet didn’t even sound annoyed. He was always so damn forgiving. “You alright?”“Yes,” Carver said with a nod. “Just. Uh. Flustered.” He risked a sideways glance toward the bed.Vector was leaning into Vere’s chest, looking half-asleep. Vere was sitting up with his back against the headboard, stroking-- oh Force, he was rubbing that tentacle dick of his. Velvet was perched on the side of the bed, half cuddled in the extra blankets.They looked lovely.Carver glanced away as soon as he could, so that he wouldn’t lose the ability to think with his brain and not his dick.“I’m… er. Interested,” he said. “In your offer. Nervous,” he added with a laugh, “but definitely interested. Could we talk about what we want and don’t want first, though?”“Definitely,” Vere said immediately.“You know that is always fine with me,” Velvet added.Vector hummed his agreement.“I need the door locked,” Carver said first, because that, always, was his first priority. Still, even years after the war. “One of my Guards is outside already. We won’t be disturbed.” Vere and Velvet nodded along as he spoke. “I don’t like my partners to be flat under me.” That was a trickier thing to handle. Velvet didn’t mind riding him, or taking other positions, so it didn’t come up much. “I’ve tried being penetrated a little and I’m not sure I enjoy it, though I wouldn’t mind giving it a try again if you’re careful.” With that, he added a glare for Vere. “I am uninterested in having eggs put inside of me.”Vere had the grace to look sheepish. “Fair. And also not a problem for the moment.”Carver nodded. This was true, and part of why the timing right now was working for him.“Can I bite you?” Velvet asked, looking eager.That gave Carver some pause. “With your regular teeth or with those new fangs?”Normally, he and Velvet would give each other little nips. Nothing that left a mark. But now…Velvet let out a groan and went nearly limp with pleasure. “If you want, oh kriff yes, I want to feel your skin on my teeth.”Well hello, new kink, Carver thought with some amusement. Truthfully, he didn’t much care for being marked. It had bad associations for him. But this was Velvet. He knew in his bones that Velvet wouldn’t hurt him, sharp fangs aside, and if this got Velvet off so hard that just the thought of it made him want to orgasm…Vere’s eyebrows were raised in surprise. He traded a look with Carver and then shrugged. “If Carver doesn’t want that, you can bite me.”Carver hummed thoughtfully. “... I’m game for a little bite,” he said finally. “And after the sex is done, Vere, you get to clean it up.” Carver refused to be his own medic after sex, just as he absolutely refused to make one of his Guards do it. That was a hard no. “Antiseptic, please. Human mouths are not clean. And you take care of it,” he said again with a stern look to Vere.“It would be my pleasure.” Vere nodded his head respectfully.“I will make you feel so good,” Velvet promised. His eyes were back to glowing red again.Really, that probably should have been more concerning than it was. After Velvet had obeyed so sweetly for him yesterday, Carver was having a hard time feeling truly frightened by such a display. Maybe a little turned on.Maybe more than a little. Kriff. Velvet was sexy.“If it doesn’t kill the mood and you don’t mark me where other people will see, or do too much damage, maybe you’ll get more than one bite,” Carver said. “But only if you behave.”That made Velvet whimper. “I will be so good, so kriffing good, I promise.”Carver believed him.He forced himself to finish. “I don’t really like pain.” Which meant that the biting thing would be interesting, but he’d give it at least one shot, just to see Velvet go crosseyed from it. “I don’t want to be held down.”“Same for us,” Vere said. “I think Vector will want to cuddle and talk dirty…”“Oya,” Vector said tiredly from his blanket nest.“I usually top, but I like fingering, oral, and hands,” Vere continued.That blush was back on Carver’s face, he knew, because his face felt like it was on fire. “I like kissing,” he admitted, feeling bashful and grumpy about it.Vere’s answering smile was wicked. “We can accommodate. Anything else?”Carver shook his head. “I think that covers the basics. I don’t like being demeaned, and I won’t do that in bed. Stop means stop.” He shrugged. He knew that various people got into a lot of different things in bed, he’d just never had much experience with that himself.“I’ll happily tell you how impressive you are, and how happy we are to have you in our bed,” Vere said in a low, satisfied tone. “Velvet, go help him with his kit.”“Kriff yes.” Velvet was on his feet in a heartbeat.Despite his eagerness, he didn’t crowd Carver. His approach was slow and careful. Instead of immediately jumping into stripping him down, Velvet held out his hand and asked, “Want to come on the other side of the bed?”The safer side, is what he meant. Safer in Guard terms, anyways. SOP during the war was to have any and all illicit activity happen on the side of the cot opposite of the door. The war had been over for years and still that habit endured. For Carver, at least.Carver nodded with no little relief and allowed Velvet to lead him over to the far side of the bed.“Sit,” Velvet said as he nudged him towards Vector and Vere. “I’ll get you deshelled.”Carver swallowed hard. Nerves sang in his body. He didn’t need to watch the door because it was kriffing locked and there was a medic of his own battalion on the other side. An officer. Plus, Vere and Vector were behind him.He about jumped out of his skin when Vector wrapped strong arms around his waist, snuggling up while also laying down as much as possible.“Easy,” Vere said coaxingly. He crawled over to sit next to Carver, side by side, and ran one hand down his back.Embarrassment warred with how karking good it felt to have so many people touching him. Carver was well and truly tired of how much he was blushing. He couldn’t look at anyone in the face, even while Velvet stripped Carver of his kit, one piece at a time.“Sorry,” Carver muttered with a grimace. “I’m not really… I don’t… people don’t…”“It’s fine,” Velvet said, stepping in between Carver’s legs. “We know. You’re not used to so many people touching you.”“Well, there was that time that Kix and Jesse joined us,” Carver said under his breath.Velvet snorted. “Doesn’t count. That was barely enthusiastic cuddling.”Carver gave him a flat look. Velvet had gotten his mouth on all of them that time. How did that not count as group sex?“You look gorgeous, you know,” Velvet said, completely distracting Carver from thinking about anything other than the way Velvet was carefully biting his lower lip. “Want a kiss? Or should I drop to my knees right here?” His look was pure lust, even if his eyes were glowing red.“You know I love kissing you,” Carver said quietly. “You’re so sweet to me.”Velvet’s predatory smirk melted into something softer and happier. “I think you’re sweeter than me any day of the week, ner cabur.”Just as the breath caught in Carver’s chest from that, Velvet pressed in for a gentle kiss.Carver didn’t hesitate to pull him in closer, threading one hand through his hair and sliding the other down to, kriff, Velvet’s bare ass. He barely had a chance to get used to Velvet’s typical tongue play when there was another mouth right next to his ear, licking delicately at him and then puffing breath along wet skin.That felt unfairly kriffing good. Carver shuddered hard.“Oooo sensitive,” Vere murmured into Carver’s ear. He followed up with a soft bite to his ear lobe. “I like that. I’m sure we can take proper advantage of that asset.”There were hands on Carver’s chest, too many to figure out exactly who, and soon his blacks were peeling off of him.“I loved watching you fist Vector,” Vere said as he continued his torment. “Kriffing hot as Sith-hells. You knew just how to wreck him. Did you want to lick him open, too?”Carver wanted to moan yes but Velvet was still busy kissing the ability to breathe right out of him. The best he could manage was a barely-there nggh?Before he knew it, his arms had been pulled out of his blacks and they’d been shoved down to his waist. Three different hands teased and played with his chest, which just made him blush and want to maybe hide.“Oh no,” Velvet said, finally giving him space to pant. “You’re as fit as any ARC, and I want to feel it. You could hold me up and kriff me against a wall if you wanted to.”The logistics of that flashed through Carver’s head. He licked his lips. “We could. I could. Do you want to?”“Kriff, yes.” Velvet grinned. His teeth were sharp and beautiful.“I want to play with your mouth first,” Carver said, already reaching for Velvet’s jaw. “Open.”That boneless sort of arousal seemed to melt Velvet in place. He all but folded in towards Carver as he opened his mouth like he was waiting for a treat.Vector cursed softly somewhere nearby. He sounded impressed. Carver didn’t pay much attention to him. He was too busy running the pad of his index finger over Velvet’s lips. Every time Velvet stayed in place and let him touch and feel as he wanted, Carver got a little thrill. The best part, though, was how clearly Velvet was aching for it. His cock was hard and pressing into Carver’s groin. His face was flushed and his eyes so dark that they were a deep ruby color.“Don’t suck yet,” he said as he pressed one finger into Velvet’s mouth. Just like the day before, he caressed Velvet’s tongue for a moment before running his finger along each fang. “You’re so talented, Velvet. I’m so lucky you offered to bed me. I’m too snappy to be any kind of a catch--oh, no! Hush.” Carver pressed a second finger into Velvet’s mouth to stop the wordless protest that was bubbling out of him.Since he had two fingers already in place, Carver decided to go ahead and press them both forward, slowly finger-kriffing Velvet’s mouth.“Beautiful,” Vere said, almost to himself. “You’re good at that.”“Velvet’s good at showing me what he likes,” Carver corrected him.Velvet’s fingers dug into the fabric of Carver’s blacks, kneading in time with Carver’s thrusts into his throat.“Not a tear, not a hint of choking.” Carver made sure that he sounded as pleased as possible. “You’re very skilled. Sexy. Spectacular. A dozen other things that I’d have to get a poet to describe.” He pulled his fingers back long enough to get a grip on one of Velvet’s half-extended fangs and give it a solid tug.Velvet reacted immediately, jerking his hips in place and moaning.“Kriff, that’s hot,” Vere said.Carver agreed. He felt lightheaded from how turned on he was.“Let’s see if I can get you off from playing with your fangs,” Carver said.Velvet’s answering whine was turned into a sharp groan as Carver tugged on another tooth. He ran his thumb over the pearly outer curve of it, and then pulled again.Velvet's eyes fluttered. He was trembling in place.“Very good,” Carver said. “How about another pull?” He suited actions to words, causing Velvet’s whole body to jerk in place.From there, he just had fun teasing the kriff out of Velvet. Carver would wait and rub Velvet’s teeth, holding off until Velvet was nearly shaking, and then pull hard. Sometimes he would give Velvet several pulls in a row. He mixed in a few throat kriffs with his fingers, just to keep Velvet engaged. Every time Velvet moaned, Carver grinned. He was hard as durasteel, too, but his pleasure could wait. He’d been waiting all day. Another quarter-hour to drive his partner insane was worth it.After Velvet’s cock was a mess of precome and Velvet’s eyes were glassy with pleasure, Carver scooted back further onto the bed, giving himself a more solid seat.“Up,” he said. With his one free hand, he helped guide Velvet’s limbs into working. “Onto my lap. Get your knees on the bed, that way you can kriff my fist while I finger kriff your mouth.”Velvet let out a long, low whine, and then about pushed Carver over trying to get into place. Vector was there behind him, giving him a backrest of sorts, which was probably the only reason that Carver didn’t go flat onto his back.“Karking tease,” Velvet muttered around Carver’s fingers. “Should wait to get off just so I can come on your cock, but kriff that.”“I’m sure we can get you off a second time,” Vere said, voice full of satisfaction. “You always did like oral, but this is a new extreme for you, isn’t it, Vod?” He combed his fingers through Velvet’s hair as he spoke.“Nnnh huh.” Velvet nodded along, already trying to suck Carver’s fingers back into his mouth.Carver let Velvet suck him as he liked for a moment and in the meantime got his other hand around Velvet’s cock and gave it a few strokes.“You’re close, huh?” Carver asked.Velvet’s eyes rolled back as he nodded and rolled his hips into Carver’s hand.“There you go, just like that,” Carver said. He loved seeing Velvet get off. He loved knowing that his partner was so turned on that he was desperate for it. “I’m keeping my hands steady, you just take as much as you want. Make yourself come. Come on.”It didn’t take long. Only another minute or two of Velvet’s frantic effort and Vere and Carver’s whispered encouragement was enough to get Velvet coming all over Carver’s hand and stomach. Once his orgasm started, Carver picked up stroking Velvet through it.“Kriff,” Carver said happily. “Karking magnificent.” As he milked the last little bit of release out of him, Carver leaned in for another kiss. Velvet’s mouth was warm and loose, and his efforts sloppy with pleasure. “Perfect.”“I… am going… to blow you until… you can’t see straight…” Velvet said in between panting breaths.He pushed on Carver’s chest, shoving him back. Vector shifted around so that Carver’s head ended up being pillowed on his stomach. “Pretty view,” Vector said with a smile. He reached over to give Carver’s nipple a pinch, which made Carver arch up and gasp a little. “Ah. Much better now.”“Mind if I help?” Vere asked.It took Carver a second to figure out that Vere was asking him.While he’d been focused on Velvet, it had been easy to not think about the other Vod’e in the room. Now he was reminded that Vere at least wanted to participate too.A tingle of excitement and nerves raced through Carver. He nodded, though he could feel that his eyes had gone wide.Velvet pulled down Carver’s blacks, effectively stripping him in one solid yank. Somehow he got the undershorts to come off in the same pull.Carver refused to admit that he may have let out a little eep.Still, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief as his cock sprung free of his blacks. Finally, he wasn’t pressed in uncomfortably, chafed and rubbed to distraction. He might need to burn this set of clothes after today.Then Velvet’s mouth was on him and Carver didn’t have any thoughts at all aside from Oh Force.The sweet, tight suction of Velvet’s mouth was both bliss and torture. He knew every single one of Carver’s sensitive spots and relentlessly lavished attention on them between rounds of fully sheathing Carver’s cock in his throat.There wasn’t a hint of fang in that delightful, wet slide. Not a bit of pain. Carver couldn’t remember where to put his hands. He was always clumsy with that.Vere beat him to the punch, anyways, and put one hand on the back of Velvet’s skull, pressing him into the thrusts. From the way Velvet was moaning on Carver’s cock, that was a very appreciated move.“Look at you, Carver,” Vere said, sounding pleased. “Sexy as kriff. Velvet always talked about how much fun he had in bed with you, and now we see why. Well done, getting our Vod off like that. Now it’s your turn. Relax. Let us take care of you."Every part of Carver was surrounded by someone. Velvet was pressed into his lap working over his cock. Vector’s body was halfway curled around Carver’s head, giving him a pillow and twisting enough so that he could absently pinch and pull at one of Carver’s nipples. Vere was on his other side, running his hand down through where Velvet’s come had spread across Carver’s stomach, rubbing it in as he urged Velvet on.Carver had never felt so cared for. He was warm and, kriff, so damn turned on. He’d had all day to watch these three have the time of their lives and now all of them were touching him. The sensation of it was nearly overwhelming. Carver could barely keep himself still and he absolutely couldn’t stop making noise.Pretty soon he was coming himself as his whole body clenched with pleasure. Velvet didn’t even stop. He just sucked down Carver’s release, only pulling back long enough to open his mouth and show Carver the come inside. Shit, maybe Carver was getting a kink of his own now, because the look of those fangs just barely peeking out around the come dripping from Velvet’s mouth made his cock twitch and spend a little more.Velvet swallowed and then grinned, opening his mouth to show off a now empty mouth.“You taste really good,” Velvet said, writhing in place in a very distracting way. Carver’s eyes were glued to every sweat slick muscle. “So good,” he moaned as he ran his hands all over himself, pinching his chest and even reaching down to his hole for a moment.“Kriff,” Carver all but whimpered.“I think I’m going to ride you.” Velvet’s voice was rough and sweet. “Then when you’re all worked up, I’m going to bite you. Then I want you to kriff me into a wall while Vere fingers you from behind.”Carver’s brain melted as liquid lust poured through him. He nodded. “Yes, please,” he said, falling back on politeness.“I’d love it if you touched me while you kriff Velvet,” Vere added, sounding a little uncharacteristically hesitant. He was slowly rubbing one hand over his tentacle cock as he did so.Maybe he was feeling self-conscious over his new appendage. As if Carver would be bothered by that. Sith-hells, he’d helped fist eggs out of Vector earlier. A little tentacle wasn’t going to be too much.Instead of trying to put that into words, Carver just said, “Yes, please,” again.He barely had a chance to start exploring Vere’s now-thick and very mobile appendage when tight, wet heat squeezed down onto his own cock.“Velvet,” Carver said in a strangled plea. “Yes. Kriff.”Velvet’s ass always felt so good. How the kriff he managed to stay as tight as he was while always getting kriffed was a karking mystery. Carver had always suspected that he did a lot of extremely specific exercises. The thought of that kept his mind from running in little circles from how karking amazing it felt for Velvet to ride him.He’d started out slow, slow enough that Carver wasn’t bothered by the oversensitivity of having just come. Or maybe he was just that turned on. All karking day, he’d been teased all karking day. He had as much stamina as the next Vod; one orgasm wasn’t going to be enough.Vere’s cock was so smooth and velvety soft in his hand. Carver took his hand away just long enough to wipe up some of the come off of his stomach to give himself a little lubrication to keep jerking him off.“Osik, yeah, you’re damn good at that,” Vere said. He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling while he enjoyed Carver’s efforts. “Such a good cabur, taking care of us all without a blink, getting Velvet off like that. Kark. That was hot. He was drooling for you, Carver. So karking pretty.”Carver did not have a praise kink. He didn’t. He was just so karking pleased and embarrassed, and going out of his mind from how Velvet was milking his cock.“Sexy Carver,” Vere said, dropping his gaze to rake his eyes over Carver’s whole body, like he wanted to eat him. “We’re gonna make you feel so good. Make you see stars. Suck you and lick you and kriff you, if you’ll let us. Just say the word.”Alright, maybe Carver had a little bit of a praise kink. Sith-hells.“I want to bite you now,” Velvet said, still rocking up and down on Carver’s cock. “Please.” His eyes were gorgeous and he looked so damn pretty and needy. “Please, Carver. Let me bite you. I’ll make it feel good, I promise.”He would, too. Carver didn’t just believe that Velvet knew what he was talking about, he trusted that Velvet would take care of him. Just like he always had.“Yeah,” Carver said with a nod. He couldn’t keep the sappy smile off of his face. “I trust you. Come on. Bite me while my cock is still inside of you. Let me feel how much it makes you get off. I bet you tighten up so good around me.”Velvet’s eyes fluttered and he let out a high keening sound of pure want.While his eyes were still nearly rolled back into his head, Velvet fell forward, hair falling over his face, to breathe along Carver’s neck. The barest hint of teeth and lips ghosted over Carver’s skin along with the gentle puffs of air from his heavy pants.“Neck can be seen while wearing blacks,” Carver had to mention.“Maybe your pretty chest then,” Velvet said in a low growl. It wasn’t just that his voice had gone rough; he’d actually growled, deep and visceral. Carver shivered in a very good way and pressed his cock up into Velvet’s ass.With two hands, Velvet squeezed Carver’s pecs together, taking a moment to lick over each nipple as he circled his hips.“Velvet.” Carver was close to begging.Velvet locked eyes with him as he leaned forward to seal his mouth over one nipple. There wasn’t any pain. Not at all. Just playful tongue and suction as Velvet teased Carver’s flesh. It felt so karking good that Carver’s brain had stopped working. As had his hands. Vere had rested a hand on Carver’s, moving it along, effectively jerking himself off with Carver’s hand. Vector was busy petting and scritching Carver’s scalp in the best way. And all the while, Velvet kept circling his hips and clenching down, tormenting Carver to distraction.When the sharp pinprick of the bite came, Carver barely felt it. Everything was just too damn good. He wanted to melt into place. He wanted to kriff Velvet into the wall. Or the bed.Then Velvet sucked. Carver about came right there. His whole body pulsed with pleasure.“Oh Force, that’s good,” Carver babbled absently. “Yes, kriff. Do that again. As much as you want. Kriff.”From there, things blurred a little.Carver got off again, several times. He did end up kriffing Velvet into a wall, and Vere was the soul of a gentleman with how sweetly he talked dirty in Carver’s ear while it happened. Vector cuddled him at every opportunity. Velvet kept biting him and sucking him off and in general being the best partner ever.Carver even managed to get to kriff Velvet while Velvet was busy sucking off Vere, which was fun for all of them, and a first for Carver. He’d never been part of a spitroast before. It was exciting as kriff and he was definitely doing it again.At some point late in the night, Vector managed to regain enough energy to join them all. He happily returned the earlier favor and gently fingered Carver’s ass while Velvet blew him and nibbled on him again. Carver even gave Vere’s tentacle a little lick, which was significantly more enjoyable than anticipated.All in all, Carver felt fantastic. So karking good. The best he’d ever felt, really.As the night wore on, he slept on and off. Sometimes he would wake up one of the others with kisses. Sometimes they would wake him up, which wasn’t as annoying as Carver thought it would be. Every time, Velvet ended up giving him another one of those orgasmically sweet bites and a good ride or suck.Carver had no idea what time it was.He didn’t care.He had a bed and great lovers and there was food over on a table and a ‘fresher when they wanted to be clean.He didn’t even care when Tranq (was it Tranq? Carver didn’t know. Nor did it matter) knocked on the door.The knocking kept happening.Eventually, Vere went to open the door. Carver just curled into Velvet and Vector and let him handle it.“Hey, Carver?” Oop. Yes. That was Tranq. He looked… worried? Annoyed? It was hard to tell. Carver also didn’t really care to think about it.“Mm?” Carver blinked lazily at him.Tranq furrowed his brow and gave Vere a quick sideways look. “It’s time for your morning shift to start. You didn’t show up. We were a little concerned. I’m glad you found some time to relax here, but…”“Hmm? Shift?” Carver squinted at him. Then at the chrono on the wall. He shrugged and pressed his face back into Velvet’s shoulder. “Don’t care. Go away.”“What.”Carver was already back to happy snuggling. That probably wasn’t a question he needed to answer anyways.Then Tranq’s hand was on his shoulder, dragging him away from the soft warmth of the cuddle pile. “Carver, talk to me, are you alright?”Carver blinked at him. “I’m great!” he said with an easy smile. Life was so good. Everything was so good. He distantly remembered that there was stuff to do in the Halls, and that if Tranq was here that meant that the door to their room had to have been opened sometime recently, which was a point of vulnerability. Carver just couldn’t find it in himself to be anxious about that at all. He felt too good.“What the kriff,” Tranq said. No, he snapped. Like a snapping gampassa.“Snap snap snap,” Carver said with a giggle. “Relax, Vod. Everything is fantastic. I’m just gonna lie in for a bit…” He tried to snuggle back to Velvet, but now Velvet had pulled away and had a worried look on his face.“Carver?” Velvet was frowning. He shouldn’t be frowning with how karking skilled he was at sex. He should be grinning all the time.Either way, that wasn’t really Carver’s problem.“Lay down, Velvet,” Carver said with a yawn. “Or let’s kriff again. That’s fun.”“Nope, you are coming with me and getting some tests done, what the kriff?!” Tranq was back to pulling at Carver’s arm.Carver wanted to protest. He did. That just felt like a lot of work, right then. So he just kind of… listed along after him.It was Velvet and Vector that held him in place.“Wait, no! He should stay with us,” Velvet said, audibly unhappy with this turn of events.“He is acting out of his mind right now, and we need to find out what the kriff you all did to him,” Tranq hissed out.“What! What we--? We didn’t do anything--” Velvet started.“Uh huh. So says all those bite marks, what the kriff.”“Listen, we negotiated that beforehand.” That was Vere speaking up, sounding unhappy and a little bit angry, too. “He was very insistent that we cover everything we wanted to do. He even asked that I take care of the bites, clean them out, and put some liquid bandage on, which I did!”This was true. Carver nodded along. He raised up his arm to show off one of the bites in question.OOoo. That was a very interesting bite mark. Unique. Carver hummed a little tune. He just felt like singing. He’d never felt like singing before. What a novel experience.“See that? That is weird. Now I’m going to get him quarantined and figure out what the kark happened to him and you all will cooperate with me!” It was not a request. It was a demand. And from the sounds of it, Tranq was furious.Carver looked up at Tranq and put both hands on Tranq’s shoulders. He leaned in. “Vod. Listen. Let that anger inside of you go. The galaxy is an amazing place. And we’re all a part of it--”“That’s it, we’re leaving,” Tranq said, interrupting him.“At least get something to cover him,” Velvet said, sounding beyond upset. “He wouldn’t want to go out in the hall without something on him. You know that.”“I have a blanket?” Carver offered. He wrapped himself up and let out a happy sigh. Objectively, he knew that the hallway was a dangerous place…He laughed, he couldn’t even think that with a straight face. The Halls weren’t dangerous. He knew that. There was nothing to worry about.“I’ll get his plate,” Vector said.“Let’s get you into blacks, at least.” Vere was suddenly right there, helping Carver dress.“You are so nice,” Carver said. He gave Vere a hug. “Thank you.”Velvet made a pained noise beside him.Three steps later, Carver figured out that he was being taken away. “Wait, no. Stop. I don’t want to stop cuddling.” He dug in his heels. Which didn’t much help since he was in socked feet.Huh. Sliding around could be fun. Maybe later. When he wasn’t so tired.“Carver, Vod, please,” Tranq said. He was standing very close. Carver gave him a hug.“It’s alright. I’m fine. I feel great!” Carver tightened his hug.“I know, but we need to figure out what happened and I can’t do that when whatever-it-is might still be happening, so long as you’re in this room with Vere and his Vod’e.”“Oh.” Carver tried to plow his brain through that one. He was having some difficulty with it. His blacks were nice, but they weren’t as warm as a blanket. Or a group of Vod’e. “Could I still cuddle with someone? Someone I know?” He shivered a little.He could see the moment that Tranq’s heart melted into little pieces.“I’ll cuddle you,” Velvet said softly.“I want to be cuddled by you,” Carver said immediately, and tried to take a step back to the bed.“No.” Tranq was right there, holding him back. “Come on. I’ll get some of the medics. Just… please. Let us help you.”“But I feel great!” Carver said, mystified by this turn of events.Tranq sighed. “I know. Let’s find out why.”Carver squinted at him. “...Don’t I always feel great?” He could just barely remember that, no, he pretty much always didn’t feel great. In fact, he generally felt like the galaxy was going to crush him like a bug. There usually was this tightness in his chest, most days. He hadn’t even realized it until now, when it was gone. “Huh. Maybe I don’t always feel great… but now I do, so that’s a win.”Tranq pinched the bridge of his nose and went back to hauling him out to the hall. “Flutter, get me a private room, and do not go stab the V’s.”“Unless it’s sexy stabbing,” Carver said with a happy smile. “Everyone should try that. It’s great.”Then Flutter was right there. And, oh look, he had his short sword out!“I’ve always appreciated how well armed you are,” Carver said happily as Tranq dragged him along. “Do you want a hug?”Flutter’s eyes widened and he let out a strangled, confused sound. This quickly turned to a growl.And now Flutter was off, headed back towards Velvet’s room.“Come back…” Carver raised a hand towards him but Tranq was bodily hauling him away.Then Carver was in a nice, clean, semi-dark room. There was the sound of scuffling going on in the hall outside. Which, really, was none of Carver’s concern. “Ooo a bed.”“That’s right. You sit down right here and let me take some blood samples. Kix!” Tranq yelled out into the hall.There was a flurry of activity around him. Carver was poked and prodded. He mostly ignored it. He wanted a hug. He explained this several times until finally Buttercup came to sit with him.“Just rest, Vod,” Rayn said from the other side of Buttercup. “We’ll get you all sorted.”“Can Velvet come hug us too?” Carver asked wistfully.“Not right now. But maybe Kix will?” Storm offered.“And Jesse?” Carver asked. Those two were safe. And Carver liked being with them. They slept together sometimes, to help with the touch starvation that Carver still struggled with.Not that this was a problem right now. Carver had all these people to hug!Life really was great.“We’ll see what we can do,” Rayn said with a sigh. “Just… rest.”Carver huffed out a laugh. Of course it was rest time. He curled up and worked on getting as much contact with the others as he could before he fell asleep.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Vokara Che ---Walking into the Halls for her shift, Vokara paused. Most of the vod medics she'd gotten accustomed to seeing in the Halls were... conspicuously absent.Healers Yeu and Gloor were resting in their usual corner, chatting quietly. Kix, Tranq, and Splint were working, as they always were, of late. Flutter stormed near-silently out of a private room, closing the door fully behind him and locking it, then approached her, feeling like a churning vortex of protective-anger-worry-fear-relief."Thank the Force," he bit out, showing his emotions rather more than was his usual wont. "Reinforcements."Clearly something had happened while she'd slept. Something big.Kix, Tranq, and Splint all looked up more or less in unison, at the words. Kix winced.For Force's sake. Couldn't they have one calm rotation?"Tell me," she demanded.Kix winced.Tranq fidgeted with his stylus, but said nothing.Splint buried his face in his hands.Flutter rolled his eyes expressively at the lot of them, and answered, his voice a near growl. "Somehow, and I don't know how, my CMO got roofied. He's high as a kriffing kite, and no one knows how the kriff it happened. But he was in with those three di'kut'la Ghost ARCs all sleep cycle. Not one of them reported anything unusual. No one knew until Carver failed to show up for his shift."She set aside the fury in Flutter's tone, the careful way Healers Yeu and Gloor were watching them like they thought Flutter as a detonator primed to explode. "I see. Where is Carver now?""The other medics are cuddling him, he was... distraught at the idea that he would have to be alone," Kix answered carefully. "So he asked for a cuddle pile, and none of us saw any reason to refuse him that."The four vod'e all fell silent, but Vokara could tell that there was more they hadn't told her. "Nor should you have," she agreed. "What have you found out so far?""Less than we'd like," Splint answered with a disgusted expression. "Storm went in to grab samples from Velvet, in an attempt to get us something that we could use to figure out what the kriff happened, but whatever it was either isn't produced without a partner he's actively having sex with, like those eggs Carver managed to get us, or it degrades so quickly outside a living body that we can't analyse it properly."Flutter picked up the narrative without missing a beat. "Storm had Velvet bite a piece of nerf steak, which we analysed in every way we could, but we came up empty. All we could detect was the karking steak and his saliva."Interesting.Very interesting.Vokara considered that for a moment, before she set it aside. "Anything else?"Kix grimaced. Splint scrubbed at his face some more, then spoke. "Vere got bitten, as well, but isn't showing the same reactions Carver is.""How did Vere react?" She persisted, something pinging her instincts to tell her that this was important. "What do you mean, his reactions are different?""He's behaving completely normally," Flutter said with a frustrated glare.Something about that would help them unravel this mystery, Vokara was sure of it. "And Vector?""He didn't get bitten," Splint told her."It's been nearly six hours since we got him out of the room, and Carver is still so deeply under the influence of whatever it was that he only wants to be hugged. Work is an afterthought at best." Flutter's fists clenched in a visible sign of his agitation."Do you want a hug, Flutter?" Vokara offered.The Corrie medic hesitated, glancing around as though he felt even that required the privacy of a locked door."Do you want to join Carver?" she asked him, offering another option that might be more acceptable. "I will take over and ensure the analyses are done properly, if so."That got her a jerky nod, and a salute. Flutter turned on his heel and made his way back into the room he'd left, giving her a hint of a glimpse of the cozy tangle of bodies on the floor that he was about to join.Good. One upset vod taken care of. Next. "Kix?""Yes?" Kix answered her gamely."Where are those samples that got taken?"That seemed to be enough to jolt the remaining three vod medics into action. They spent the next couple of hours trying everything they could think of to wring information out of what they had. Every so often, as they worked, Tranq text commed someone, scowled when he read the reply, then kept working."What has you upset?" Vokara asked him after the third such text comm."Carver is still high as a kite," he answered. "Whatever happened isn't just potent, it's also apparently very long lasting."That wasn't great news. Not really.Biting back a sigh of her own, Vokara straightened her spine and stretched, loosening muscles that had tensed up and stiffened as they'd worked. "I think it might be time to try to get some answers out of that trio of ARC troopers.""I'll help," Kix said, implicitly telling the other two to keep at their tasks.The scene that met her eyes when they entered and the feel of those three ARCs in the Force made her wince. Velvet was very upset, and the other two were doing their best to keep him levelled out but clearly also worrying, themselves. They'd wound up tangled together in a tight knot on the still-dishevelled bed, doing their best to comfort one another through touch. Vokara could tell it hadn't been particularly effective. All of them felt prickly and distressed.Vere was the one to sit up, carefully and gently disentangling himself from their cuddle and running a hand over Velvet's hair as he moved. "Master Che," he greeted her, his voice hoarse and tired."Captain Vere," she answered, moving over to stand beside the bed."You heard what happened," he said, the question sounding more like a statement."I did," she conceded, feeling Kix move to stand beside her before he reached down to offer Velvet a quick comforting grip of the shoulder, himself."Kark," Kix muttered. "I should've known you'd blame yourselves."Velvet made a sound like a sob that tore at Vokara's need to help. After he'd wrestled back a bit of control, he answered, "We discussed it all beforehand, none of us wanted to hurt Carver, ori'haat. He-- " Velvet hiccuped, then drew a shuddering breath. "He agreed to the bites, even though we-- we almost never do that. He-- kriff, he's gonna hate me."Not entirely sure why Velvet thought Carver would hate him, but convinced that wouldn't happen, Vokara reached out in the Force and tried to soothe him a little. "I doubt that. This sounds like whatever it was that happened, happened completely by accident."Velvet groaned, his distress still very much present. Kix swore and started shucking his plate."Talk to us, vod," Kix demanded, gently but firmly. "Tell us what happened. We only saw the effects. You were there when it went down.""We're not really sure what happened," Vector admitted, speaking up for the first time. "We're just guessing.""Doesn't matter," Vokara told him. "Even a guess would help, right now. Our analyses haven't revealed much, so far, which means that having a thread to pull on could be what we need for progress. Maybe even a breakthrough."Kix wormed his way into the tangle, doing what he could to help calm Velvet. His hands roamed freely over back, shoulders and neck and his fingers massaged at scalp and other pressure points.It took what felt like an age, but eventually Vere started talking. "We're really not sure what happened. It took a long while for us to convince Carver to let us make him feel good, and once we did, the negotiations took a while. He was very thorough. It... well. It was kind of reassuring, really. We know the Corries all went through haran before we got them out of the Dome, and none of us wants to accidentally hit a on something that reminds them of that. Especially not during sex."Vokara nodded. That was more or less what she'd expected. "Go on."Vere had to clear his throat before he picked the thread back up. "Carver agreed to the bites. And all the rest of it. I know Carver's second was very upset about the marks Velvet left, but we made kriffing sure they were okay. Believe me.""He even made sure we knew he wanted us to clean the bites after he got them," Vector added. "And we made sure we did.""We believe you," Kix put in quietly. "Carver would never have consented to keep seeing Velvet after that first time, if he thought Velvet might ignore his boundaries."That statement clearly helped. A little bit of the distress eased. Good, Vokara thought fiercely. "Flutter is worried," she put in. "Not angry.""We didn't know there was even a problem until the other medics came in to get Carver," Velvet said, then sniffled. "He's okay, right? We didn't hurt him? Please say he's fine--""Udesii, Vod," Kix cut him off before he could work himself back up into a right state. "Udesii. He's physically fine, and the others have got him. We just want to get to the bottom of what happened to get him to the point where he was willing to ignore his shift starting. That's very out of character for him, and with you all suddenly... off baseline... we need to figure this out. We need to know if it's a one-off, or if it might affect other partners you have. We need to find out what the kriff it was, exactly. Who knows if there might be some beings who have adverse reactions to whatever it was that got him so high?"Vokara nodded. "This was a very unpleasant surprise, but no one was hurt, vod'e."Vere took another deep breath that caught in his throat, clearly trying to keep his cool, and nodded. "Good. That's-- that's good. Tell him we're-- we're sorry?""You can tell him yourselves," Kix pointed out. "He's got a comm and so do you. But wait until you're all calm enough not to freak him or each other out. Let yourselves come back down first."Velvet nodded, swallowing hard. Vector gave Kix a pained look, but didn't protest, either. Vere's hand twitched toward his comm, then dropped to the mattress again when Kix glared at him.Vokara approved. They might be absolutely ridiculous, but at least these three did know how to follow even directions they didn't like. Albeit only from a trusted voice. "Now, did you do anything else unusual besides the biting?" she asked, in an effort to get their discussion back on the rails."Not... not really?" Vector answered, thinking back. "At least, I don't think so? We kept things simple. None of us wanted to overwhelm Carver, since he told us it was his first time with multiple partners. The biting was one thing we knew was new. Most of the other things we did were... well, nothing unusual for a moresome? At least not between vod'e."Vokara caught Kix's eyes and the medic sighed. "Standard sex acts pleasurable for humans and near-humans, but usually done simultaneously to one of the involved parties," he explained. "Double penetration is often a thing, though knowing Velvet, he probably was sucking someone off."Vere nodded.Vokara considered that. "Kix, did anyone think to check those semen samples for composition?""We did," he said immediately. "That was one of the first things we checked before we let these three into a room together."So it likely was the bites, and not the exchange of other bodily fluids, that had resulted in Carver's high. "You said the saliva sample and the bite also didn't yield any conclusive results, either, though," she replied, getting surprised looks from all four vod'e."True," Kix agreed, his expression going distant as he thought hard. "And Carver managed to confirm that those eggs only get laid when actively kriffing a partner."Huh. That was also true. "You think this is another similar effect? Something that only happens when Velvet bites a living being?"That got her horrified looks from all three Ghost ARCs. "But it didn't get me high," Vere blurted out."It didn't?" Kix asked him, surprised."What the kriff are you saying we're working with here?" Vector grumbled. "Some drug that affects everyone differently? That doesn't happen, Kix.""Hmmm," Vokara considered that. "Not usually, no, especially given the genetic similarities," she agreed. "But there can sometimes be idiosyncratic reactions. Or perhaps we're not looking in the right spots.""And you think that's what happened to Carver?" Velvet asked, sounding and feeling like that suggestion had finally helped him come back down a little."It's possible," she told him. "That's the best theory we have, right now, frankly."Kix grumbled something under his breath that made Velvet snort, then scowl, as though he was annoyed at himself for wanting to laugh. "It does fit the facts as we know them," the medic conceded grumpily. "But how do you account for the difference in dosage?"Velvet cleared his throat, a little bit embarrassed, and the tips of his ears went pink. "Carver kept asking for more?" he answered, a bit of trepidation in his voice, like he thought he might get scolded for giving them the intel they were asking for. That they so desperately needed, to get to the bottom of things.Vokara nodded slowly. "I think, perhaps, what we need is to experiment a little bit."Kix looked up at her, surprised, then nodded. "It could work.""Experiment?" Vere asked her warily."You two each let Velvet bite you once, and then report how you feel until you're back to your baseline. I'll be your control. You'll bite me as well. If I have an adverse reaction, I can either purge whatever is in Velvet's saliva myself, or one of my colleagues can do it for me.""That doesn't make for a very big sample size," Kix muttered, but he didn't protest further."Unless we want to get those three Wolfpack ARCs involved," she pointed out, "we simply don't have enough beings with the relevant attributes for a statistically significant result, Kix. And they're still so upset that I have no wish to disturb them with such a request."Kix sighed, his expression grumpy, but nodded. "Even if we did get them involved, it still wouldn't be statistically significant. Ugh. Fine. But let your colleagues know now rather than later that they might be needed.""Of course. But that presupposes that Vere, Vector, and Velvet are willing to undertake this experiment," she pointed out.Velvet flinched, before he mastered his emotions. "If it helps Carver, I'm willing."The other two ARCs nodded. "Agreed.""Kix, will you monitor these three?" Vokara asked him, well aware that the trio of ARCs would speak more freely if she left. They wouldn't falsify anything, but they might omit things that they weren't comfortable mentioning otherwise. "Velvet will bite me, and then I will go sit with Gloor and Yeu. I will add my results to the logs you keep of the effects that Vector and Vere feel."Kix nodded, then hesitated. "And if we need another vod as a point of comparison?""We'll decide that once we have our initial evaluation done. If my reaction is similar to Carver's, we shouldn't need one. However, that being said, if anyone is willing...""... it might be wise to get the data," Kix finished. "Got it."Vere ducked down to hug Vector close and nuzzle at his hairline. Kix gave Velvet another comforting squeeze."Ready for this, vod?" Kix asked Velvet.He got an unhappy frown in response, but Velvet nodded. "No way out but through."Vere held out a hand. "Go on, then, vod. You won't hurt me. We've already proven that."The unhappy frown deepened, but Velvet picked up his Captain's hand, pulling it a little closer. "Might be easier if I was hungry or horny," he muttered.Vector snickered at him, the sound still holding hints of his lingering distress. "Want a hand job?"That got Kix to snort, and shake his head in disbelief. "Give me a second to set up that log, first. We should make a note of the times of the bites so we can also get an idea of the halflife of whatever this is."Vokara gave him an amused look, but nodded. "Go ahead. Let us know when you're ready."There was a short silence while Kix carefully untangled himself, retrieved his datapad, and set up what he needed. As he worked, Vector and Velvet pushed themselves upright, and tucked themselves in close to one another, drawing comfort from having that contact.Once he was ready, Kix tucked himself in next to Velvet, on the vod's other side. Vere settled himself next to Vector, leaning against the wall behind the bed and tucking his shins under Vector's legs. They all seemed much steadier now, thank the Force, their distress eased somewhat by simply having a plan of action. Even if it was one they weren't entirely happy about."Everyone settled and more or less calm?" she asked.That prompted Vector and Velvet to do some breathing exercises. Kix joined them after a beat. So did Vere.Once they reopened their eyes, Vere caught Velvet's eyes and nodded. "Think sexy thoughts, vod," he joked, trying for and more or less managing a smirk.Velvet rolled his eyes at his friend, but took Vere's hand and carefully lifted the Captain's forearm to his mouth. When he bit down, Vokara could tell he was using barely any force at all and carefully keeping to the muscle just below the elbow.She gave him an approving nod when he released Vere again. Vere reached for the disinfectant and liquid bandages that had to be left over from their tryst with Carver. That got him an approving smile.A brief silence fell and held, and then Kix cleared his throat. "I've noted the time of the bite. Let me know as soon as you start to feel its effects. Regardless of what they are, any changes in how you feel could be relevant."Vere nodded, but grumbled, "I remember our training, thanks, vod."It was hardly a shock to know that they had trained with what was likely a variety of highly unpleasant drugs, but it stirred her protective instincts nevertheless. Carefully shoving them back down and into a box, she caught Vector's eyes. "You ready?"Vector took a steadying breath, but nodded then held out his arm. Velvet repeated what he'd done with Vere, delicately biting down on muscle then immediately letting go again."Is that what you did with Carver?" she asked him."'Lek, I-- yeah. I didn't want to hurt him-- to push him too far," Velvet answered, and winced. "Guess I did that anywa--""Nayc," Kix cut him off. "Stop that. He's okay, and we're working on preventing a repeat.""Right," Velvet agreed, "yeah. We are.""Vere?" Kix redirected the conversation. "You feel anything?""No? Nothing noticeable." Vere shrugged. "How long do you think it takes to feel the effects?""Impossible to say," Kix answered with a sigh, and rubbed at his forehead. "Some drugs take effect within seconds. Others take up to 45 minutes or an hour."Vokara decided it was time to prompt Velvet to take the last step and rolled up her sleeve. When she offered her arm, Velvet hesitated. "Tranq is gonna murder me for this," he said, "but orders are orders.""I'll handle Tranq," Vokara reassured him. "It's important that we get this figured out."With another wince for how the mark he was about to leave was likely to be interpreted, Velvet carefully set his hands at her elbow and her wrist. The touch sent a shiver through her, the contact feeling almost electric. And then Velvet was ever so carefully and gently biting down.She barely felt it, the bite registering as nothing but the barest pinch, and then a warmth was spreading through her, relaxing every muscle and then some. Forcing herself to remain upright, she waited until Velvet pulled back and Vere cleaned the bite mark to let herself steady herself with one hand against the wall.Kix gave her a surprised look. "Master Che?""I-- wow. I think we can-- " she had to clear her throat. "I think we can pin down a few things already," she told Kix and watched his expression shift from worried to surprised to worried again."Sitrep!" Kix all but barked at her."Response almost immediate, a sensation of warmth and then relaxation like being in a heated bath at the end of a long rotation," she answered. "Contact with Velvet's hands was... it was almost... charged. Like a pair of thick banthawool socks on a dry winter's afternoon."Velvet's jaw dropped and he gaped at her. "Immediate? But-- Vere and Vector don't feel anything?"As he finished the sentence, Vere's stomach growled loudly, and he blushed. "Well, not nothing," he replied. "I'm kriffing hungry, all of a sudden."Kix snorted, even as he noted that down. "I'm pretty sure we can chalk that up to the fact that you spent all of last rotation making your lovers see stars. Having sex takes a lot of energy."Vere nodded. "You're probably right. I did have to get up to eat a couple of times last sleep cycle, which is something I don't normally need to do. But you did say we should report everything."His stomach growled again, and Vector snickered at him. "Go get a snack, Vere."Vokara put a bit of durasteel in her spine. "I'll be outside. Call me if you need anything."Kix scoffed at her. "I'd call Splint first. Go sit down before you fall over, and keep the log updated."Vokara waved that off. "Tranq can do that," she disagreed, then made her way to the door, keeping herself carefully steady against the tantalising warmth rushing through her. It would have been all too easy to just sprawl in a chair in that room and relax, letting that warmth steal all of her worries away, but she knew better.She'd promised, and she would deliver.Someone would need to keep Tranq and Splint calm, anyway. --- POV: Captain Rex ---When Fox stomped back into their shared quarters, sometime just before midmeal, Rex gave him a curious look."We're still working on it," Fox told him, easily guessing what he was about to ask, "but I need to check on my CMO."Carver wasn't Fox's CMO any longer. Hadn't been for a long time, now. But that didn't matter to either of them. Fox continued to do his best to keep his troopers healthy and happy, and that included his CMO."You heard something from the Healers that we haven't?" Kote asked him, standing and starting to put his beskar'gam back on.Rex could tell he intended to follow Fox into the Halls, and followed suit, not willing to be left behind.Fox shook his head. "No. But... I have a feeling.""A Kenobi feeling?" Kote prompted him for more intel.Fox rolled his eyes. "No. I don't get that feeling of impending doom like your jetii does.""Our jetii," Rex corrected him gently, getting a grimace and a nod from Fox. "Come on, then, let's go check on Carver."The moment all of them were appropriately presentable, Fox led them out of the suite. He set a fast but not hurried pace, the ingrained officer training they'd all undergone coming back to the fore. Don't look like you're panicked or afraid, or everyone around you will pick up on it. Your men depend on you to keep order.They made good time to the Healing Halls. No one stopped them.The scene when they entered was one that had Rex baffled, though. Of the Battalion Medics, only Tranq and Splint were visible. Master Che lay half sprawled in her chair, looking incredibly relaxed. Healers Gloor and Yeu kept watch over her. Everyone was... oddly tense."Alright," Kote asked, with a sigh underscoring his words, "what disaster fell in our laps this time?"Tranq grimaced. "A new discovery about those kriffing alterations."Master Che huffed at him, an amused smile tugging at her lips. "Not a bad one, but a very surprising one."Splint muttered something under his breath that Rex didn't catch, but that made Tranq look up sharply to stare at them. "You're not wrong, vod," Kote's CMO replied, now staring Kote down."If you're looking for an invitation to the salles," Kote said, "you're going about it the right way, vod.""That's almost tempting, but no." Tranq ran a stressed hand through his hair and turned his challenging stare on Rex, which had Fox bristling. "We had a... minor mystery land in our laps, but something tells me you might be able to help us unravel it."Rex raised an eyebrow at him. "That's a very vague statement, vod.""And before I help with anything, I want to see my CMO," Fox interjected, projecting authority.Tranq grumbled something insulting about stubborn CCs that Rex carefully ignored. "Carver's in room five-aurek. Do us all a favour and don't lose your cool."Giving him a glare, Fox exited the conversation without another word. Rex picked up the thread. "Why would Fox potentially lose his cool?"Splint sighed, and gestured to Master Che. "Somehow, Velvet can induce that reaction in the beings he bites that are not his two batchers. We're trying to work out how, why, and how to avoid it happening to anyone who doesn't want it to besides just telling them not to let your or'dinii bite them.""He's Cody's ARC, not mine, thanks," Rex answered, as he fought to unpack all of the insanity in that explanation."And we can help with that... how?" Kote asked carefully."We're looking for a pattern in who reacts to Velvet the same way as Carver did. Let him bite you, and tell us how you feel," Tranq finally came out and told them what he wanted.And really, that didn't sound terrible.Kote considered that for a moment. "Let him bite me?""Oh, right, you don't know about the... argh. This is such a clusterkriff..." Tranq scrubbed at his face with his hands. "Well, you'll see. Go on in, your ARCs are in three-dorn. Kix will get you read in fully."That sounded... worrying. Rex eyed Kote's CMO. "You okay there, vod?""I'll be fine. Go." Tranq waved them off and settled next to his jetii, where he started fussing, checking the bacta bandage on her arm.Rex could only assume that was where she'd been bitten.Hopefully, Kix would have a few more of those bandages handy. If Kote was going to let Velvet bite him and the injury that resulted required bacta to heal properly, Rex intended to insist.Kote, now that he was well and truly concerned about his ARCs again, took off for the named room with purpose in his stride. Rex recognized the set of his riduur's shoulders; Kote was going to find out what the kriff was going on, and wouldn't take no for an answer.Rex trailed along behind him, wanting to know, himself. And in any case, Kix would likely tell him more than Kote.When they got into the room the sight that met their eyes was one that inspired Rex's protective instincts to start growling, looking for a target. These vod'ike were very upset, despite the reasonably good façade they were putting up. They showed all of the tells of a group fighting to stay levelled out. Tight pinched skin around their eyes, stressed furrows on their brows, tightly clenched hands and shoulders that did their best to creep up to a position beside their ears.Kix, on the other hand, looked relieved to see them. "Captain," he greeted them, "Commander."Kote ignored him in favour of crossing the room to comfort his ARCs, leaving Rex to talk to his CMO. "Kix," he answered, seating himself next to the medic, "din'kartay?""Kriffed," Kix replied, drily, getting a surprised snicker out of Vector."Kriffed, how?" Rex resisted the urge to sigh.Velvet made a quiet unhappy sound that set Rex's nerves on edge and promptly had Kote wrapped around him."We're still trying to pin down exactly what happened," Kix said, "but after their tryst, Carver was acting absolutely stoned off his tits. Our initial tests revealed nothing, which had us baffled and worried. Subsequent experimentation has revealed some things, but not everything."That was... vague."Tranq implied Rex and I could help with that," Kote said, standing and staring Kix down. "By letting Velvet bite us."That made Velvet flinch, reminded of whatever had upset him, and Kix immediately put his hand on the vod's shoulder. After a beat, though, Velvet looked up at Kote, nervously, and spoke, "The medics and healers think I-- I managed to get Carver high by biting him. So, they're making me bite whoever's willing, under more controlled circumstances."Kote considered that. "You bit him while you were having sex, didn't you."Vector nodded. "We made sure it was okay, first.""Do I get sex if I let you bite me?"Rex snorted, unsurprised, but Velvet stared up at his Commander in something like disbelief. Kix scrubbed at his face, and muttered something that sounded like Typical into his hands.Velvet, though, seemed to find steadier emotional ground. "If you want," Kote's ARC agreed, finding a hint of a seductive smirk for his Commander.Seating himself next to Kix, Rex put in, "Count me out of this little experiment. If one of us is going to be potentially drugged for science, the other can't be.""That's fair," Kix agreed without hesitation, and pulled out a datapad that had apparently been stuffed onto the chair at the small of his back.Vere sighed quietly, wrapped himself around Velvet for a brief squeeze of a hug, then let go and piped up, "I still feel no change, Kix.""Me neither," Vector added.Kix nodded and made two notes on his datapad, then focused his attention on Velvet and Kote. "Whenever you're ready."Kote eyed him for a moment. "You're staying in the room," he said. It wasn't really a question.Kix answered it anyway. "I am. This new ability of your ARC's needs to be documented. For medical purposes, if nothing else."Considering that for a moment, then accepting it with a shrug, Kote turned back to Velvet and gave him a challenging look. "Let's see what you've got, then, ARC."Velvet drew himself up. "I can take you, anytime, Commander.""Prove it. Make me feel good, then." Kote caught and held Velvet's eyes, stripping off a gauntlet and bracer as he did."Oh, I'll make you see stars," Velvet said, rising to the challenge, as Rex suspected he always did. His shoulders came back down, and the tension leaked back out of him. Fascinatingly, his eyes seemed to glow red, and -- oh, that was almost certainly what Tranq had avoided mentioning -- his eyeteeth had somehow sharpened and lengthened into fangs. "Come here, Cody."The sight of the fangs made Kote hesitate, just for a split second, surprised, before he raised an eyebrow at his ARC. "That's new, vod. When did you get the fangs?"Velvet shrugged. "Woke up with 'em. The bite doesn't hurt, based on what we've managed to work out."Vere and Vector nodded. "It really doesn't. No more than an IV or a hypo," Vere put in, from his position, lounging against the wall with Vector tucked comfortably into his arms.Kote considered that. "Can I touch them, first?" he asked, his tone somewhere between intrigued and cautious.Vere and Vector laughed, and Velvet's eyes fluttered shut as he groaned. "Sure," he agreed, his voice a little hoarse. "Careful with the points. They're sharp."Kote stepped over to his ARC, encouraged by that very clearly positive reaction, and reached out, carefully telegraphing what he was doing. "You like having them touched?" he asked."Mhmm." Velvet nodded, quick and enthusiastic, before he opened his mouth and wiggled his eyebrows at Cody.Rex couldn't tear his eyes away. He could hear Kix's tapping at his datapad, but all of his attention was on Kote and Velvet. Kriff.When Kote's hand landed on Velvet's jaw, careful, gentle, Velvet groaned deep in his throat. Kote smiled, pleased. "That's it," Kote told him. "Just relax. I've got you.""He loves getting his throat finger-kriffed," Vere put in, getting Kote to turn and stare."That so." Kote's fingers caressed Velvet's jaw and neck, getting him to swallow hard. "Do you want that, Velvet?"That was... kriff. That was hot. Rex had to swallow hard, himself. Velvet shuddered and then shrugged. "Do you? I wouldn't mind sticking to a blow job or something else simple.""Bite have to happen before or after, Kix?" Kote asked the medic.Kix had to clear his throat roughly. "Either is fine, but before is preferable. Give yourself a minute or so before you make any further moves, so I can ask my questions and make my notes."Nodding, Kote turned back to his ARC. "Choose. Give me a blowjob or have your throat finger-kriffed?"Velvet shuddered again, his glowing eyes falling shut again briefly, before he straightened his spine and decided, "Blowjob. I want to taste you."Sith hells. After this, Rex knew, he would have to get off, too.Rolling the sleeve of his kute up and reaching out to gently tug down Velvet's lower lip with his thumb, Kote asked his ARC, "Where do you intend to put your teeth, once I let you? Hmm?"It was obvious to Rex that he didn't expect a reply, but Velvet answered anyway. "Nnn, near y-- your elbow. Muscle."That seemed like a smart choice to Rex. Kote looked like he agreed. His still-gauntleted hand came up, nudging Velvet's chin up, and he demanded, "Open."With another groan and a twitch of his hips, Velvet obeyed."There we go, that's it, Velvet," Kote encouraged him. "I just want to see what I'm working with."Vere made a small, wanting sound, and Vector did the same, a beat later. "Kriff, that's hot," Vector breathed. Vere's arms went tighter around him for a moment, and he gently nipped at Vector's earlobe. "It really is."When Kote finally reached for his ARC's fangs, carefully running his fingers over and around them, Velvet made a choked sound and his fists clenched around fistfuls of the bedding he sat on.That definitely felt good, Rex concluded. Kix took a shuddering breath and kept typing.Kote explored for a few more moments that seemed to stretch, then took his fingers back, and wiped them on a small hand towel lying on the bedtable that Rex hadn't previously spotted. With his other hand, he cupped the back of Velvet's head, and waited for his vod to reopen his eyes."There you are," he said, pleased, when Velvet looked back up at him. "Still feeling good, Velvet?""Kriff, yes, I am." Velvet reached up to run one hand through his hair, then smirked rakishly at Kote, his eyes glowing brighter than before, as he reached up to take Kote's bared arm in his hands. "Can I make you feel good now, Cody?""'Lek," Kote said, without hesitation, "but I expect you to make sure that bite gets cleaned and covered with a bacta patch before you suck me off.""Sir, yes sir!" Velvet's sexy smirk got turned up a notch. "Kix?""Go ahead," Kix managed to say, and then Velvet's teeth were sinking into the meat of Kote's forearm.Kote's face went through curious-interested-intrigued and then settled on blissed the kriff out. "Whoa," he said, sounding dreamy as that time Rex, Fox, and Obi-Wan had kriffed him until he was utterly wrung out, and swayed on his feet.Velvet's arms went around his waist as he let go of the bite, and he helped Kote down to sit next to him.That only lasted long enough for Kote to realise he wasn't standing anymore, and then he was letting himself fall back to sprawl across the bed and the other two ARCs' legs.Kix looked torn between amusement and worry. "Commander?" he asked, "Din'kartay?""I feel-- kriff, I feel like someone gave me a shot of the really good drugs," Kote told their medic as Velvet dutifully got the bite wound cleaned and covered. "Not-- not disconnected, but-- everything's great and there's nothing to worry about-- just-- really, really good. Relaxed. Warm. Like a cuddle pile. Protected."Something that had been coiled tight in Velvet unwound when he heard those words, but Kix was watching Kote carefully. "It hit you almost immediately, didn't it.""'Lek," Kote tried to nod, then gave up. "Come finish the job, Velvet."Kote's ARC obeyed without hesitation, deftly getting Kote out of just enough of his beskar'gam to give himself access. Kix shook his head at them both, fond but exasperated, and made his notes. Rex just stared, trying not to let the sight of Kote getting a very efficient and enthusiastic blowjob turn him on too much.It didn't take Kote long to finish, and when he did, he sighed like he sometimes did when he climbed into one of the heated pools in the Temple. Relaxation and relief and enjoyment mingled into a quiet sound of pleasure.Without needing to be asked, Velvet tucked Kote back into his kute and did his beskar'gam back up for him. Kote didn't so much as twitch, enjoying the afterglow, while his other two ARCs petted and praised him quietly."Well," Kix said, "that was illuminating."All three of Kote's ARCs gave him incredulous looks.Rex snickered at the trio of or'dinii'se. "Got to go confer with the other medics, vod?""No, I'm staying put. And your riduur is, too, for now. He needs to come back down off the high, and I need to monitor him as he does. No more sex, in the meantime."Velvet nodded. "Understood."He looked a lot calmer than before, though. Reassured, in a way Rex suspected no one but Kote could have managed, but not truly at ease yet.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Vokara Che ---Vokara had seen Padawan-Commander Fox hurry in, to check on Carver no doubt, and she'd seen his two riduur'e follow him, loyal as ever.Fox had paused only long enough to find out where his ex-CMO was, and then left, purpose in his step, to check on him.Tranq, that wily man, had sent Cody and Rex to do much the same for Ghost's ARCs. Vokara approved.For her part, she was coming back down off whatever Velvet had done quickly, now. Not because she'd been helping it along -- in fact, she pointedly hadn't been, needing to know how it would progress without the use of Force healing to speed things up -- but because the effect was simply wearing off.Yeu caught her eyes. "Still doing alright, Che?""Mm, yes. I'm just fine," she answered. "How are the Ghosts?"Gloor, seated on her other side, made an amused huff of sound. "Kix seems to have sicced Commander Cody on Velvet, and been ridiculously successful.""Oh?" Vokara pushed herself up, more of her relaxed lassitude disappearing. "I should check in with him.""You back to baseline?" Gloor asked her."More or less," she answered, and eyed the bacta patch on her arm. "I wonder how long it will take Commander Cody and Captain Rex. So far, there doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to the reactions we've observed. How long has it been since they arrived? I wasn't paying attention to the time.""About two hours, Vokara," Yeu answered. "And I'd suggest checking in on Fox first, now that you're back on your feet. Kix would have sounded the alarm if there was a problem with Commander Cody. Fox was distraught when he arrived, and probably still is.""Noted."She pushed herself to her feet -- she wasn't tired, not physically, but whatever had hit her seemed to have burned through a significant portion of her mental reserves -- and started crossing the halls.As she did, Tranq appeared by her side as though summoned, concern sloughing off him. He'd worried when he'd found out what she'd done, allowing Velvet to bite her, and it would take him a little bit longer to truly relax, himself. "I'm just fine, cyare," she told him, reaching up to caress the side of his face. "Let go of all that stress, it doesn't serve you."Tranq took a shuddering breath and leaned into the touch. "You're sure you're alright? Carver is still--""I'm sure. Let's go check on Carver and Fox in person, shall we?""Not my Commander?" Tranq asked her."Kix is keeping an eye on him, and you're still worried about your friend," she said simply.Tranq grumbled something indistinct under his breath, but nodded. "Alright."The moment the door opened on the private room the medics had picked out for their use, everyone but Carver looked up. On edge, and protective. Carver, himself, still seemed to be under the influence of Velvet's bite. Fox looked like he wanted very much to go stab his riduur's ARC trooper."Calm down, Commander," Carver told him, likely not for the first time. "Everything's great. I promise. Hello, Master Che."Pixie and Stilts exchanged a look, and wrapped themselves more tightly into the tangle of bodies, worming their way a little bit closer to Fox and Carver. Vokara focused on the Corrie CMO. "You're still feeling relaxed, huh, Carver?""Mmm, 'lek," he answered, a pleased hum underlying his words, "but I miss Velvet. And his batchers. When can I--""Udesii, vod'ika," Fox cut off what was almost certainly going to be a request to go back into that room. "Udesii. They're fine, Cody and Rex are checking in with them.""Kix is keeping me updated," Storm put in. "Everything's green, vod."Ah. Of course. Vokara nodded. Before she could ask her next question, though, Fox caught her eyes and growled, "How in the name of the Force did my CMO get kriffing Force tricked?"Startled, Vokara just stared at him blankly for a moment. "Force tricked?" she asked him as she approached, slowly and cautiously, to run her hands through Carver's hair and her nails gently over Carver's scalp; a comforting touch while she discreetly checked him in the Force. "No one noticed any evidence of a Force trick," she said as Carver all but purred at her like a tooka.It was kind of adorable, really, but she tucked that thought away for later; right now, she needed to get to the bottom of this new mystery, on top of the one currently squarely in their laps.Fox scowled at her. "Probably because no one expected one," he parried. "But I'm guessing based on what I think being Force tricked feels like, rather than what I can sense in him."That... Vokara considered the point. Carver certainly was behaving far outside the patterns he'd developed since moving into the Temple, and also didn't seem to mind one bit. And if it had been a Force trick -- the use of which would certainly fit with the strange hint of Force sensitivity that Sinker and Velvet seemed to have suddenly developed over the last couple of rotations -- it was likely one that Carver had been working to resist the whole time he'd been in the room with Cody's ARC troopers. That would have made it hit all the harder once he'd allowed it to.And she was certain Carver had allowed it. He had a powerful will. He’d been so careful not to overstep any boundaries while he'd been on duty, and he was known to very happily allow Velvet to seduce him anytime the ARC was on planet and not pestering him during a shift. Which only made it all the more likely that Velvet had done this by accident, not knowing that he could, and that Carver had been all too willing, which had resulted in a much longer lasting effect than it had had on her.Then again, she hadn’t felt any evidence of a Force trick when she’d been bitten. After she'd had Velvet bite her and rejoined her colleagues, she and Healer Gloor had run their analyses on the injury site quickly enough to find other trace compounds. Not just a triggering venom or poison, for lack of a better word, but also an independent hormonal reaction, possibly due to pheromone triggers. The phenomena reminded her of how some species would go into heat or go dormant in reaction to others of their species undergoing the same activity. Or perhaps the way that some species adults reactively produced oxytocin when presented with a baby of their species. The effect was situational rather than chemically induced.Thus, in addition to the ‘venom’ for lack of a better word, something about Velvet’s bite, or perhaps his touch or both, had convinced her body to produce anti-stress and muscle relaxing chemicals. How, exactly, that had happened, she wasn’t sure. And the effect certainly hadn’t lasted as long for her as it had for Carver."It's possible," she answered after she'd thought things through a little. "But if it is a Force trick, it was likely compounded by other physical triggers. It doesn't seem to be malicious. If anything, it seems to be a way to make the sex better and relax the participants."More than one of the assembled medics choked on their next breaths, and Carver hummed, smug and satisfied. "It was very kriffing good," he confirmed, entirely shameless about it. "And I definitely want to do that again.""Oh, Force," Rayn breathed, and Storm facepalmed. "This is going to have to stay under wraps, or every unattached vod this side of Tatooine is going to want to take a turn on that ride and Velvet will let them."Fox sighed, pained, and accepted that. A beat later, his expression went vaguely horrified. "Wait. You didn't tell Cody to let him--"Tranq winced. "We did.""Well kriff," Xyl said and groaned. "That's going to mean your Commander tries to move into that room. We all know how he is about sex."Snickering, Vokara tried to reassure him. A little bit, at least. "I'll deal with the Commander, if needed.""And Rex?" Fox asked her, wryly."You get to wrangle your Captain," she shot back. "In any case, if you're right and it is a Force trick, Velvet has to want it to happen. And whoever is getting bitten likely needs to be willing, for it to have a noticeably stronger effect than it did on me or Vere and Vector."Influencing someone who was unwilling would be significantly more difficult, and wouldn’t last nearly as long. Maybe only a moment or two, given the strength and apparent focus of Velvet and Sinker’s new-found mild Force sensitivity.Vokara held back a sigh. There were still so many questions and precious few concrete answers. What she needed was to directly observe this phenomena. Then she wouldn’t just be guessing.Fox sighed. "Then Cody is going to wind up like Carver. Fan-kriffing-tastic."Buttercup, one of the Corrie medics, snickered at him. "Take him back to your rooms and let him have his fun," he suggested.That was something no Corrie would have dared voice in front of a natborn right after their rescue. It was still something of a surprise to her, but Vokara wasn't about to draw attention to it and risk spooking him.With a wordless grumble, Fox carefully untangled himself from Carver and let his medic rejoin the cuddle pile properly. "I should go check on him, in any case. And what we do afterwards is none of your business."Pixie raised an eyebrow at him. "Until your riduur is free of Kix's monitoring, it is."Rolling his eyes at Pixie, Fox stood, straightening his robes and armor. "Pretty sure I can convince Kix to release him to my care.""Oh? Because you're so much better than he is about reporting injuries?" Buttercup asked, his tone going caustic.Fox ignored him. "Comm me when Carver is back to baseline," he demanded, then left the room.Vokara watched him go, shook her head fondly at his miserably failed attempt to look stern and distant, and caught Stilts' eyes. "Let us know if you need anything, but it appears as though the situation in here is stable.""We will," Stilts promised. "Have there been any developments on the Wolfpack's side of this little experiment?""Nothing unexpected," Vokara answered, and sighed. "The three affected ARCs are all still quite upset. Enough so that we didn't feel it was wise to ask Sinker to bite anyone. He was very distressed by the news that he would need to eat more meat and ingest some blood to go with it. The cuddle pile helped, but he's not what I'd consider back to baseline. Perhaps tomorrow, we can ask him to join in, if we still need to gather any more intel once we're done with Velvet."The Wolfpack ARCs' lingering upset resonated sharply with the intel they'd just uncovered about the Force trick that Velvet had been able to employ. "Once they're all leveled out, I'm going to need to talk to Velvet, Sinker, and Carver, together."The ridiculous contrast between Carver's reaction to Velvet and Splint's to Sinker had her wondering if Sinker had accidentally Force terrified Splint, on their first meeting, even without biting him. That, in turn, caused her to wonder what the effect of the bite might have on someone who was actively being terrified. Would there be different pheromone or hormonal triggers?Carver hummed agreeably. "We can do that," he said, and squirmed a bit deeper into the cuddle pile.Setting that aside for later, Vokara reached out to run her hand through Carver's hair once more, then stood. Still no sign of Force related imbalance, nor any lingering relaxing compound. Perhaps the compulsion was a far deeper imprint than could be seen from a brief Force touch, or perhaps the biotoxin released in the bite had acted in a way that she hadn’t yet noticed. She hesitated to attempt to reset his hormonal levels back to ‘normal’ without further information. If there was still some kind of compulsion or drug still in play, she might do more harm than good.She was still missing something."I'm going to check in with Kix," she said, addressing the whole room. "You know how to reach me, if I'm needed."Tranq stood, too, apparently deciding that he wanted to join her for this, apparently reassured that she was really as fine as she'd claimed, and that Carver would be taken care of. "I'll be back again later, vod'e."Satisfied that nothing had gone sideways in her absence and also likely would not in the next hour or three, Vokara turned for the door and led the way back out. She would need to check on Commander Cody and Captain Rex, but she was fairly certain already what she would find, and it would be alright. And once she had, she would need to check on the Wolfpack's ARCs, or send Splint in to do it.No, she amended the thought, she would have to go with Splint. That would be the wiser option.But first: Fox's two favorite vod'e.Squaring her shoulders, she settled herself. Thankfully, they were getting closer and closer to unraveling everything they needed to know about this misadventure. One by one, the pieces were falling into place. They still didn't know whether the changes to the ARCs were reversible, but even if not, this was a status quo that could be managed. Could be accommodated. Judging by Carver's state, Cody's ARCs were going to be just fine, even if they couldn't get the changes undone. And those three were unquestionably going to be willing to help the Wolfpack's trio out, as needed.All in all, things felt like they were slowly coming back out of their uncontrolled spin. --- POV: Kuo'ran Wren ---The urge to shout at someone was strong. "For kriff's sake," he grumbled instead, "are you kriffing serious?"Lun'dar looked like she wanted to laugh at him. Kuo was tempted to demote her. But then he'd have to find a new second who was as competent and easy to get along with.After a beat, she replied, "The alor went with his riduur, to check on his riduur's former baar'ur, and now he's under observation until further notice," Lun'dar repeated.Fives snickered at whatever expression he was making. Kuo glared at him. The snickering just got louder."Just get comfortable," Fives told him. "You should know how the Marshal Commander operates by now. I'd bet he decided to go see his ARCs and accidentally broke their quarantine or something."That was all too plausible. Giving in to the urge to run a hand through his hair, Kuo answered, "I'm kriffing making him do all of his flimsiwork and mine once he's out of there."That had Fives and Lun'dar laughing at him outright."When you try," Fives told him, "I want to watch.""Nayc," Lun'dar disagreed, "you'd try to sell tickets.""Yeah, okay, that's fair," Fives conceded.The truly annoying thing about that, is that Fives wasn't wrong -- the verd'ike would watch that kind of showdown with popped grains, and cackle like kekekars the moment it was safe to do so.There were moments Kuo almost regretted throwing his lot in with the alor, even if it was very much worth being free of Kyr'tsad."Any idea when the baar'ur'e will let him out again?" Kuo tried to haul the conversation back on track."Not really," Fives answered, copping to the fact that he was in contact with his Captain. "But nothing seems to be badly wrong. Just an unexpected reaction to whatever happened. That's all I know. It's being handled, Wren. Don't worry. CMO Kix, or CMO Tranq, or Master Che -- or anyone else in a position to do so -- would let us know if something bad happened to him. They wouldn't share details, but they'd tell us. And Captain Rex is being pretty calm about whatever went down."That was a good point.Resigning himself to at least one more long rotation of fielding the Council's persistent demands, Kuo grimaced. "I'd prefer it if he didn't get himself into these sorts of messes in the first place.""Wouldn't we all," Lun'dar said with a wry expression on her face. "But it's not like we can leave for Manda'lase without those three ARCs, in any case. The alor would dig his heels in and refuse."That was certainly true. "'Lek, gar serim.""Why is he even under observation in the first place, though? What did he do?" Kuo couldn't help but ask. "He was fine at firstmeal."Lun'dar shrugged. "Are you sure you want to know?" she asked him knowingly."Not really," he admitted, "but the Council will ask, and I need something to tell them."Fives poked at his comm again, then cackled when the response came in, making Kuo's heart sink a little. Great."Well?" he prompted the ARC. "Din'kartay?""I found out what he did," Fives answered.Kuo was karking sure his suspicions were likely right. "And?""Turns out what he did was Velvet."There it was. Muttering curses under his breath and wondering what the ever loving kriff Kree'buir would have thought about this insanity, he forced himself to take a breath and hold it for a moment before he asked. "He went into the Halls, broke quarantine, and then kriffed his ARC?""Apparently." Fives didn't spare him.Lun'dar cackled. "Manda. No wonder the baar'ur'e are keeping him there.""I really kriffing hope he's not stuck there until the ARCs are allowed back out," Kuo said and bit down on a pained sigh. "That will drive him a little bit insane, and the rest of us, as well.""Probably," his second said with a nod."What I really want to know is if the crazy rumors are even halfway true," Fives said after a few seconds, sounding almost thoughtful."There's no way they are," Lun'dar told him. "The weird osik that sounds impossible that your vod'e are speculating about is just that. Impossible.""I know you remember the time Commander Fox got turned into a humanoid vulptex," Fives reminded them. "The theories that our vod'e got turned into carnivores are no weirder."Kuo had to concede the point. "But the ones that claim they're suddenly monsters? That they have extra arms or are part Nautolan or whatever? Those have to be false."He had to cling to that hope. If the rumors turned out to be true, who the kriff knew how the vod'e as a whole would react."Maybe." Fives stood his ground. "We'll only know for sure once they finally let those six back out of the Halls, though."Kuo watched the verd'ika type something into his comm and knew that Fives had to be trying to pry intel out of his Captain.He wasn't sure he wanted to know what had been asked, though, much less what the answer was. "I'm going to go find something to eat for midmeal," he told the pair. "You coming?"Fives waved him off distractedly, focused on his comm. "I'm not hungry, thanks."That meant he was more interested in getting his gossip than eating, not that he wasn't hungry, Kuo knew. Rather than protest -- he knew better -- he let that go. One of Fives' squad mates would make sure he ate.Lun'dar nodded. "Let's." --- POV: ARC Trooper Sinker ---When Sinker woke up that morning, he felt significantly better. Still stressed and worried, but being in a solid cuddle pile with his Vod’e had done worlds of good. Especially with Wolffe there. He, Sinker, and Boost had survived the unimaginable together. Just having all three of them together was enough for Sinker’s hindbrain to believe that maybe they’d all be alright.Seeing Boost and Regor together and safe was also soothing as kriff. Why, he was hesitant to think about.What strangely seemed to help the most was how unruffled the Corries were. While Sinker hated to consider how they’d learned to be that supportive in the face of incredibly strange and horrifying body changes, he was grateful for their acceptance now. Drift and Tux’s squad took turns keeping watch and cuddling, offering sympathy but not pity. None of them ever smelled of fear.Sinker was still weirded out that he could smell fear.Having another morning meal of regular foods with a small side of donated Vod blood also helped steady him. Everything was sharper and brighter, sure, but he also didn’t feel snappy with hunger.After firstmeal, they’d gotten the news about Carver.“It’s weird,” Boost said petulantly.“Everything about this is weird,” Regor added with a dry tiredness that spoke volumes about how he was coping.“I have eggs.” Boost stared at his stomach.“At least they come out of you at some point,” Regor said with a prod to his shoulder. They were all sprawled together, sitting vaguely upright while poking at datapads or cards to entertain themselves. “It’s not like you’re the incubator.”Sinker and Boost both winced. That was fair.“Eh,” Shadow said with a shrug. “Think of it this way: now you have a place to put eggs, if you wanna do that during sex. It’s so much worse if they’re going places where there isn’t room.”Hound shuddered. “Right? Ugh.”Sinker opened his mouth to comment about how kriffed up it was that they knew that. Then he snapped his mouth shut and just… moved on. Now wasn’t the time. Also, what the kriff.He watched Boost and Regor come to that same conclusion. Wolffe just glowered.“And we all came out of decanting tubes,” Tux added. “Is an egg any worse? Lots of sentients come out of eggs.”“I don’t really want to think about what kind of thing will hatch out of whatever kind of eggs I have,” Boost said in a low moan.“You heard Splint,” Sinker said, instinctively trying to cheer his Vod up. “Based on the tests they’ve run on the V’s, it’ll probably be human or near human.”That seemed to mollify him somewhat. “Yeah, I suppose. I just never really wanted to spawn my own.” Boost grimaced.“At least you get the easy bit,” Regor said. “You can lay them and go.”All three of them stared off into the distance at that thought.“Kark, why did we let those sex addicts convince us to go spelunking?” Sinker groaned, putting his face in his hands.Drift and Tux both snickered.“Not like you Wolfpack haven’t done that before on your own,” Shadow pointed out with a shiteating smirk.“Shut up, you,” Regor said without any real rancor.Wolffe just let out a long suffering sigh. “General Buir should be stopping by today. I know he’s working hard to figure out what’s going on with that artefact that you all stumbled on.”That would be good. Sinker leaned into Wolffe in silent thanks for the reassurance.“You know that the medics are gonna want you to test the biting thing, right?” Drift said, startling Sinker with the sudden change of subject.“What?” Sinker wasn’t pouting. He wasn’t. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Drift was right. “Osik,” he muttered.“You can try on us,” Tux offered, waving a hand between him and Drift.Drift nodded along. “CMO Carver thought it was safe enough to test on him. And a good thing, too, because now we know that something strange is going on. We should help, too.”“Excuse you, but no,” Shadow said with a frown. “You’re our shinies. You can’t get bitten before us. We go first.”Drift let out a long aggravated groan. “For the last time, we aren’t shinies. We haven’t been shinies in years. Let it die.”“Never,” Shadow said viciously.“You will always be our shinies,” Hound said seriously. “Besides, Shadow can’t get bitten first. I’m squad leader, I do it first.”“Hey!” Shadow said, with Drift and Tux’s objections not far behind. “The only reason Breaker isn’t here arguing too is because he’s out in the hall on door watch. We are definitely getting bitten first. We have experience.”Sinker didn’t want to know what that experience entailed.Boost clearly didn’t share that sentiment, because he immediately exclaimed, “Wait, you Corries have had one of your Vod’e turn into a fanged cannibal and had to feed him?!”“Thanks Vod,” Sinker muttered sarcastically to Boost with a glare.Drift looked shifty. “I mean… not that exactly...”“You know what? No. Stop. Don’t.” Boost covered his ears with his hands.“Regardless,” Wolffe said, butting in, “None of you are going to get bitten first because that is my job.”“Vod...” Sinker turned to look at Wolffe with wide, wounded eyes. “No. No one needs to get bitten. Velvet’s doing enough biting as is!”“You know the medics will want more info,” Regor said, resigned.“They can get it from the V’s!” Sinker answered.“Vod.” Wolffe sighed and tugged Sinker into a tighter hug. “It’s fine. You won’t hurt me. We all know that.”“But what if I do?” Sinker asked miserably.Hound snorted. “Then we all pull you off of him. It wouldn’t be hard, and it’s not like you’re going to be biting him in the neck. Pick a nice, disposable body part and start there.”There were several snorts and snickers at the phrase ‘disposable body part’.As upset as Sinker was with this whole line of inquiry, it was hard to stay worked up when the rest of his Vod’e were acting so easy going.“I don’t mind bites, you know that,” Wolffe said reasonably.This was true. Wolffe was a bit famous for it, in the GAR. All of the Wolfpack were a bit bitey.Sinker had to nod.“We should probably wait for a medic to help with that, though,” Hound said as he absently poked at his datapad. “They’ll have scans and stuff, I’m sure. And bacta. Kriff, bacta is the best.”That earned him a round of murmured agreement from the rest of the Corries.They were all making very good points. Damn them.Sinker let out a long breath and grumbled to himself. “Maybe… maybe later today,” he said after a few long minutes of quiet. “Let’s see how CMO Carver fares.”Before he started screwing over his own Commander, Sinker wouldn’t say.Wolffe eyed him like he heard that thought anyways, but nodded. “Sounds good to me.”--A few hours later, Splint scared the kriff out of them all by bursting in and saying, “Commander, your dini’la riduur went and got himself stoned out of his mind on Velvet’s bites!”While Sinker was still trying to keep his teeth snapped shut and not growling at the sudden intrusion, Wolffe had already slapped the palm of his hand to his face with a groan.“Velvet said, ‘Hey, wanna sexy bite?’ and he ran towards the opportunity, didn’t he?” Wolffe sounded some mix of resigned and fond. “Also, we’re not riduur’e.”Most everyone in the room snorted or rolled their eyes at that. Sure, they weren’t riduur’e. Kriff-buddies with benefits, maybe. The benefits are the emotional intimacy, Sinker thought with amusement, not the kriffing. That comes standard with the friendship. And it just figured that Wolffe would immediately assume that the offered bite was meant to be sexy, rather than fitting into any of the other usual categories.Commander Cody certainly was legendary for his enthusiasm. Case in point, they all knew that Splint was talking about Commander Cody and not Captain Rex or Commander Fox, both of whom Wolffe was just as close to.“Uh huh.” Splint gave Wolffe a knowing look. “I think that it was Commander Cody who brought up the sex part, but yeah, basically.”“He’s doing the same thing we are,” Tux said, sounding a little defensive. He shrugged and looked off to the side of the room, avoiding Splint’s gaze. “Our Vod’e need help figuring this out. It’s just a little bite. We’re helping.”“You’re what now,” Splint said deadpan, turning his fish-eyed gaze towards where Tux and Drift were tucked in next to Sinker still.“I mean, not yet,” Drift said, coming to his closest Vod’s defense. “We were gonna wait for a medic to supervise.”Splint just stared at them. Then he blinked hard. “Alright. Sure. That’s no different from Commander Cody charging into the V’s room to lend a forearm.” He sighed. “And you’re not wrong. We do need more data about what’s going on. Although…”He leaned on the side of a table and furrowed his brow in thought.After a moment, Splint stood up and shook his head. “Let me confer with Master Che, Tranq, and Kix. I want to get the latest information. If you’re willing, Sinker…?” He raised an eyebrow at Sinker.Sinker tasted bile in his mouth and grimaced. He didn’t want to hurt anyone.… But this wouldn’t really be hurting anyone. Not if he was careful. He had a whole group of Vod’e here to help him, and as insulting as the idea was, they really could pull him off of whoever he was biting, if worse came to worst.Eventually, Sinker nodded. “I’m not really happy about it. But.” He sighed. “We really do need to know what will happen. At least here there will be Jedi healers on hand in case--”
In case I rip someone’s throat out.
“That’s not going to happen,” Wolffe said firmly. He reached an arm out across Boost to squeeze Sinker’s shoulder. “We’ll all be fine. You’ll see. Worst case here is a little nibble and being stoned.”Sinker thought about what it felt like that first time he got a whiff of his own blood, when Splint had tried to do the draw. He thought about how hungry he felt. How aggressive. About how he'd been able to smell Splint’s fear.“I think you’re wrong about that,” Sinker muttered, still lost in the memory of how he’d wanted to feed but he’d also wanted Splint to go away.Wolffe shoved Sinker’s head, as if he could physically push the thoughts out of him.“Hey!” Sinker batted at the air, but Wolffe had already withdrawn his arm.“I’m not wrong. You know that.” Wolffe said with a sniff.Boost and Regor snickered. Everyone else looked amused.“Go,” Wolffe said to Splint. “Confer. Come back and we’ll be ready for some biting.”Splint saluted him and immediately headed out.Because of course.Sinker sighed again.“Resign yourself to it, Vod,” Drift said, giving him another squeeze. “We’re helping.”Sinker didn’t restrain himself from sticking his tongue out at Drift. Even if it was petty.A little less than an hour later, Splint returned, this time with Master Che.They caught them all up to speed on what was going on with CMO Carver -- the Corries were relieved to hear that he was still comfortable, though less relieved to hear that he was still high off his tits -- and with Commander Cody, who had, in fact, gotten a blow job and was feeling pretty happy with life.“I’m not having sex with any of you,” Sinker said firmly.“Thank the Force.” Wolffe made a face.Sinker wasn’t sure if he should be insulted or not.Master Che ignored that byplay and instead said, “Our current running theory is that the effects of the bite are both physiological and Force induced. The effects of my own bite were relatively brief and purely physical. Which, interestingly, weren’t the same effects that a simple bite had on anyone else. So far we have a lot of variables and very few trends. With that in mind, the more data we have, the better chance we have of figuring this out. Splint said that some of you have volunteered to be bitten? And that you’re willing, Sinker?”Sinker gave her an unhappy look, but nodded. This was for the best. Hopefully. Maybe.Kriff, he hoped he didn’t kill anyone.Everyone else in the room nodded along with him. Of the Corrie squad, Hound had been shoved out into the hall to keep watch. They’d spent at least a half-hour bickering about it before Drift, Tux, Breaker, and Shadow had unanimously given him the boot. Hound had bitched about mutiny as he was making his way out.If nothing else, their drama had kept Sinker and his Vod’e distracted from what they were about to do.“Alright. Thank you,” Master Che said with a bow of her head. “I would like to reiterate that none of you have to do this--”Sinker huffed at her and shook his head sharply. “Don’t bother. I’ve spent all morning trying to talk them out of it.”Drift squeezed him tight again and whispered, “Nu draar, Vod,” to him.A little chunk of ice in Sinker’s chest melted at that and some of his tension flowed away.He cleared his throat. “So. Yeah. We’re all in. How do we do this?” Then he blinked and let his brain catch up with what she’d said earlier. “Wait, did you say ‘Force induced’?”“Indeed, I did,” Master Che said. Her lekku were twitching in a way that implied that she was amused, and there was a barely-there curl to her lips. “While you do the biting, we’ll get scans set up on you and whoever you are biting. I’d also like to coach you through some basic mental exercises, before and during the bite.”The next half-hour was a blur of resettling the room for their experiments. Sinker requested that some extra blood be kept on hand, in case he felt too hungry. His private back up plan was that if he felt out of control, he would lunge for the bottle.Maybe not-so-private back up plan, since he got several approving looks after making that request.Boost had volunteered to be first. He and Wolffe almost got into a fist fight over that, which only was defused after Master Che mentioned that she would prefer if Boost and Regor went first. “I want to see if there is a baseline,” was her only explanation.Everyone was scanned and samples of all kinds were taken.Finally, Sinker and Boost were seated next to each other on the bed. Sinker would have preferred chairs, but Splint had very reasonably pointed out that a bed would be better in case one or both of them needed to very quickly be horizontal.“Make the bite right here in the arm,” Master Che said, pointing to the meaty part of Boost’s forearm. “First, Sinker, I’d like you to hold my hand. We’re going to do some slow breathing.”Since Sinker felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest with nerves, that seemed like a good plan.Wolffe insisted on sitting at Sinker’s back, giving him the support of someone to lean on. Just having him there within touching distance was a relief.It still took several minutes of Master Che’s coaching for Sinker to feel anywhere close to calm.“Good,” Master Che said as Sinker breathed. “You’re doing well. Now, I want you to think about your teeth. Run your tongue over them. Do they feel sharp?”Sinker squeezed her hand tight and did as she asked. He’d been sure a moment earlier that his teeth hadn’t been sharp at all. Or they’d only been dull enough to ignore. Now that he was paying attention, or perhaps because he was paying attention, his fangs were wickedly long and pointed.Instead of verbally answering her and messing up his patterned breathing, Sinker just let his lips part to show off the tips of his fangs.“Good,” Master Che said again. “Boost is here. He’s your close Vod, right? I want you to give him a light bite. Just a little mark. Can you do that?”Of course he could do that. They bit each other from time to time, either out of affection or in a brawl. It happened. But…“It’ll break skin,” he said quietly. He kept his eyes closed -- when had he closed them? -- and he tried to keep that feeling of calm.“Yes. Only a little bit. Boost doesn’t mind. Can you do that?”“You know I wouldn’t care about a little scar,” Boost added. “Besides, it’s from you.”That made warmth flutter inside of Sinker. “Alright,” he said.“Alright. Go ahead and open your eyes.”Sinker did so and immediately was presented with the sight of Boost holding up his bare arm. The sleeves on his blacks had been rolled all the way up.This is fine. We can do this. We’ll be fine, Sinker told himself.As gently as he could, he took Boost’s arm in his hands.And then he bit.… Somehow, he expected the experience to be more profound.There was blood. It tasted good. Weirdly good. The heat radiating from Boost’s body was another bonus.Sinker didn’t really feel like drinking, maybe because he’d topped off on bottled blood before they started this whole mess.After only a few seconds, he withdrew his fangs and began licking the wound. He didn’t think too hard about why he was doing that.Once Boost’s arm was clean and the little teeth marks had stopped oozing blood, he pulled back.Boost raised his eyebrows at Sinker and gave him a shrug. “Felt fine?” he said, sounding a little nonplussed. “Didn’t even really feel much of a sting. Maybe like getting a hypo in the arm.” Splint was next to him monitoring the readings on the scanner. Master Che had one hand on him and one hand on Sinker, sitting with her eyes closed.Sinker licked his lips and ran his tongue over his teeth. “Huh,” he said. He shook his head. “I don’t know. It wasn’t awful? Or amazing. Tasted good,” he admitted with a bit of a blush heating his face. “But not… I don’t know, life shattering. Just. Good. Pleasant.” He shrugged and then grimaced at Boost. “Sorry?”Boost snorted at him. “For what? This was fine. If anything, it’s a relief to know that if we need to feed you in an emergency, that it won’t be awful.”That was something that Sinker had been very specifically trying to avoid thinking about.After another moment, Master Che opened her eyes and stood to go look at the scan results with Splint.They muttered back and forth to each other for a minute, and then Splint came over to clean the bite and put a bacta bandage on it. Now that he thought about it, with immediate bacta, it probably wouldn’t even scar.“Not so bad, then?” Wolffe asked quietly.“Weirdly, no,” Sinker said softly back to him. Boost nodded in agreement.The medics took more notes and samples.Then they did the whole thing over again with Regor. The lengthy set up, the several minutes of what Sinker assumed was meditation beforehand, the startlingly brief biting, and then samples and cleaning and poking and prodding.If they had to do this every time, Sinker was going to go insane.Everything went basically exactly the same.Except that Boost’s stomach had started growling loudly enough for the whole room to hear. He turned bright red.“It’s been a while since my last snack,” he said, shoulders up near his ears.Master Che gave him a considering look and let him know that food would be on the way.After biting both Boost and Regor and getting absolutely no negative effects, both in them and for Sinker experiencing the bite, Sinker had started to relax.Maybe he’d been freaked out for nothing? Maybe this wasn’t a big deal?“I’m next,” Wolffe said promptly.“I think I would prefer it if you waited at least one more turn,” Master Che said.Wolffe turned his glare on her. “Why?”“Because at this point I think that Boost and Regor may be mostly immune to whatever mood enhancing effects Sinker’s bite may have. Look here,” she said, pointing to a holo projector’s worth of incomprehensible banthashit. “Boost, Sinker, and Regor have had some fundamental part of their genetics altered, and, perhaps more importantly, they match with each other. We noticed the same non-reaction when Velvet bit Vere and Vector. But Carver, Cody, and I were all affected to some degree. Now, Twi’leki genetics are different from baseline human genes in some fairly key ways, but we have similar reactions to a lot of stimuli and narcotics. Plus, there’s the fact that there could be a Force element involved. So, I’d like to have Sinker calmly bite someone else first, holding his mind as clear as he can, with the intent not to influence anyone. Then I’d like to have him try thinking very hard about his partner relaxing while he bites.”“And you want me to be the one hit with the relaxing thing,” Wolffe said, jumping to the obvious conclusion.Sinker opened his mouth to object, and then he stopped. Of everyone else here, Sinker would feel most comfortable trying to mentally influence Wolffe. The Corries had weird reactions to everything, especially Force nonsense. Sinker didn’t want to touch that with a ten foot pole. But Wolffe was steady as Sith-hells. Force, he bedded Commander Fox on the regular, and that Vod was intense.“Yes,” Master Che confirmed with a nod. “I am open to suggestions, though, if you all would prefer to do this in a different order or a different way.”Drift, Tux, Shadow, and Breaker all did that thing where they shifted around and looked weird at each other. Talking without talking. Even after years of spending time with them, Sinker still really didn’t have a perfect read on what they were saying. The shabuir’e wouldn’t outright teach him their micro-signs. He knew enough, though, to see that they were feeling out how they wanted to proceed.“We’re comfortable with both types of biting,” Drift said. “Just let us know beforehand so we can prepare.” The rest of his Vod’e nodded.Wolffe squinted his eyes and stared at them. Then he let out a grumpy hum. “Fine. One of them first. Then me. Then back and forth if you need to. But for Force’s sake, you may want to consider telling Fox so he can be here to mother-nuna-hen us all.”Splint snorted in derision while Master Che’s eyes crinkled with good humor.“Padawan-Commander Fox is aware that we’re doing some experimenting with the bites,” Master Che said.Wolffe raised an eyebrow at her.While the medics rearranged everyone again, the Corries got into a vicious game of blaster, starfighter, ‘saber, throwing the fast paced handsigns several times before finally whittling down a winner.Thus it was Shadow who was sitting across from Sinker next.Master Che again coached Sinker into calmness, and kept a hand on both of them during the bite.The moment Sinker pulled his teeth out of Shadow’s skin, Shadow began to list to the side. Breaker was already there, holding him up.“Alright, Vod?” Breaker asked, worried.“Fine.” Shadow blinked several times and shook his head. “Tired? Relaxed. Like I accidentally took too many of my meds. May need a nap. Don’t really feel different in my head, though. Just fuzzy.”Sinker found himself clinging to Shadow’s arm in alarm. “I’m really sor--”Shadow waved his free hand and interrupted him. “‘S fine. This is why we’re doing this. So you know. It’s always worse to not know.”Then Splint was there, wiping up the bite and putting a bacta bandage on it while Master Che did whatever Force nonsense she was supposed to. Or at least, that’s what Sinker suspected she was doing with her eyes closed.Splint ran Shadow through some cognitive tests, all coming out relatively well or at least similar to a Vod on heavy relaxants or pain killers.“Don’t go piloting any speeders in the near future,” Splint said eventually.Shadow snorted at him. “As if I’m going anywhere but to a cuddle pile after this.”His incredibly laid-back reaction to whatever the kriff was going on with him helped to keep Sinker from panicking. The fact that no one else in the room seemed to be upset either helped a great deal too.“Don’t worry, Vod,” Shadow said with another wave. “I’m fine. Just feeling tired and floppy. Like I spent a good long time in a really hot spring. It’s good. And we knew this was a possibility.”Wolffe hugged Sinker from behind. Sinker leaned into him and tried to remember that this was a good outcome. Better than what he’d feared would happen.After all, Sinker had enjoyed the bite and liked the blood, but he didn’t feel like drinking Shadow dry. Nor did he want to bite him more than that.Master Che hummed to herself. “I didn’t notice anything in the Force with that bite, same as the bites with Boost and Regor. For this one…” She stood up to look at the scanners. “There definitely was an effect. I don’t think that it’s venom, or not completely. There are some compounds on the bite site and in the saliva. They degrade extremely quickly... in addition to some type of coagulant? That would explain the tendency to lick the wounds afterwards.” Sinker blushed a little at that. It had just seemed like the right thing to do. “The most significant change was the hormonal shift. Maybe some kind of pheromone trigger? Or maybe a compound we aren’t picking up. Splint--”“Already on it,” Splint said as he adjusted various settings on the holoprojector.They fiddled with things for a while. Sinker tried not to think about it too much. Instead he leaned into Wolffe and watched Shadow get settled in their blanket pile with Tux. Shadow looked fine. Happy. Or, if not happy, then at least unconcerned, which was probably an ideal outcome, really.“After we’re done with this biting stuff, I want to hug everyone here,” Sinker said quietly.“Agreed,” Wolffe grumbled in his ear.New sensors were brought up, and Breaker took his place on the bed with Sinker.“Alright, do the exact same thing with Breaker that you did with Shadow,” Master Che said, taking her position next to them both.And again, they repeated the process.And again, Breaker immediately slumped down, relaxed but not balls-numb stoned.The medics muttered and poked and sampled.Sinker was getting a little cranky. They’d been at this for a couple hours now. It took time to set up each person to be bit, time to get the necessary samples before and afterwards, time to check over the results and refine the approach, and yet more time to apparently stand around and talk about possible causes.Perhaps sensing this, Master Che called for a brief break to eat while she and Splint stepped out to go do medic things. Maybe to check on the others. Right now Sinker didn’t care.He gnawed on an extremely rare nerf burger as he internally grumbled.“Lighten up,” Tux said with an elbow to his side. “Medical stuff always takes a long time.”“It’s better if it takes a long time,” Drift said in between slurps of some kind of frozen slushy drink. “If it doesn’t, that means it’s triage, and no one wants that.”The Corries all cackled while Sinker glared at them.“You all are insane,” he grumbled.Drift just shrugged. “Hey, do you think you’d want to hug a tooka? I could sneak one in.”“Force,” Regor said with a groan. “You and tookas, I kriffing swear. Not everyone wants a face full of fur.”Wolffe had that look on his face like he’d smelled something awful. It was kind of funny. Even Sinker could admit that.“Karking tookas,” Wolffe said snidely.“They’re so great.” Drift’s dreamy-eyed look wasn’t diminished at all.That made Sinker snicker outright. He wasn’t the only one. Breaker and Shadow were all but giggling.“We should go to the tooka cafe again,” Tux offered.Drift beamed a smile at him in response. “Great idea. You all want to come?”“Sure,” Boost said with a shrug.Sinker nodded along. The tooka cafe was alright. They had good drinks, and the tookas were pretty friendly. Not a bad place to spend an hour or two.“Sure, just let me get my bag of thermal detonators,” Wolffe said quietly to himself, perhaps not loud enough for Drift to hear him. Certainly loud enough for Sinker to overhear, and thus almost snort some nerf burger out his nose to keep from laughing.He could just see it, too. They all knew that Wolffe had a stash of those things.“Let’s not get arrested this week, eh, Wolffe?” Boost said while Sinker tried to relearn how to breathe air instead of nerf.“Thorn and Thire would be insufferable about it,” Wolffe conceded.Despite his better judgment, Sinker felt a kriff-ton better after their meal.Almost good enough that he wasn’t ready to tear out his hair at further testing. Almost. --

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: ARC Trooper Sinker ---After they’d finished their meal, Splint came in to check up on everyone, paying special attention to those who’d already been bitten.Breaker and Shadow were happily leaning onto Regor, who was looking more settled. Tux and Drift were perched closer to the bed. Maybe ready to jump in if they felt like they needed to? Boost was squeezed into the bed behind where Sinker sat; his presence made Sinker feel a kriff-load more secure about this whole thing.Wolffe was already ready to go, sitting next to Sinker on the bed.Sinker ignored the signs of the next test bite being set up and tried to focus on keeping his shit under control. No freaking out. He was full, he had his Vod’e, everything was fine. Fine.He gritted his teeth and leaned into Boost.“Don’t worry, Vod’ika, you’re not going to hurt me,” Wolffe said with casual disregard. His shoulders were still tight with tension, but Sinker appreciated the effort nonetheless.“If anything, you should be kriffing thrilled about this biting thing,” Tux said thoughtfully.“What,” Sinker snapped at him, face twisted with the horror and revulsion he felt building inside of him. So karking much for meditation.Master Che stepped inside just in time to hear Sinker let out a truly impressive snarl. Kriff, how embarrassing.Rather than being scared like a sensible sentient, Tux just rolled his eyes and shrugged at him. “Think about it, di’kut. Your bite is like a hit on some good meds. Maybe the best, if this thing works with Commander Wolffe. No matter how short your company’s supplies are, you can help a Vod who’s hurting.”While Sinker sat there with his jaw dropped, Drift nodded along and picked up the narrative. “Right? Kriff. Got a Vod panicking in a dangerous way? One bite away from helping them get under control. Someone with a bad injury and no bacta or pain meds? Not sure how much your bite would do with pain, but kriff, even a muscle relaxant would be useful as Sith-hells.”The Corries quietly boggled at that, eyes wide and wistful.“Carver would have never let you out of our med wing, if you’d been with us like this back in the war,” Shadow said softly.“Think of all the Vod’e with post-trauma, who can’t sleep or whose bodies hurt,” Breaker said with a sleepy nod. “Osik, if this could help me sleep better at night, I wouldn’t be opposed to a regular nibble. Might have to figure out something for the scarring.” He scrunched up his face. “It was a small bite. Would it even scar with bacta?”“Likely not,” Splint said, making Sinker start in place a little.… His bites wouldn’t even leave a scar? He had strangely mixed feelings about that.Master Che stepped over to him and gave him a squeeze on the shoulder. “This doesn’t have to be all bad. You’re different, not worse.”Boost hugged him from behind, which was great because Sinker’s eyes were burning and this throat hurt in a way that had nothing to do with thirst and everything to do with how much he was feeling right then.They all gave him a minute to process that.So what if this was crazy and he was a little freaky now? Maybe this biting thing could help his Vod’e instead of being a danger to them.Maybe.He rubbed his hands down his face and took a deep inhale. When he let it out, it felt like another block of weariness had fallen off of his shoulders.“Thanks, Vod’e,” he said quietly.“Just telling the truth,” Drift said with a shrug.Master Che smiled at him and gave his shoulder another squeeze, right as Boost affectionately knocked his forehead into the back of Sinker’s head. Rather than complain, Sinker just tossed his head back to try and knock him back, missing totally.Before they could devolve into wrestling, Master Che asked, “Is everyone ready for the next try?”There were nods all around. Sinker gave Wolffe one more long, worried look. Wolffe just nodded and put his arm forward.“Alright. Let’s start with the breathing exercise again. This time, Sinker, once you’re settled, I want you to listen to my instructions.” Master Che once again moved to stand so that she could have a hand on both Sinker and Wolffe.Several minutes of quiet breathing went by before Sinker felt really calm. Every time he was almost there, his brain tried to screw things up. Each time that happened, Master Che was there with softly spoken advice that helped him focus back on his breath.“Good,” Master Che eventually said with satisfaction. “Now, I want you to open your eyes and look at Wolffe.”Sinker did so.“Breathe in and out. Keep our regular pace,” she said. “Think about how much you care about Wolffe and how much you want to protect him.”That was easy to do. Sinker’s loyalty and devotion were absolute.“I want you to focus on how much you’d like him to rest. See how stressed he is? He’s been very worried.”Wolffe shot her an irritated glance, but didn’t deny it.That actually made Sinker smirk and hold back a snicker. Wolffe would rather eat shards of transparisteel than admit when he was worrying.Master Che ignored the look. She still had her eyes closed, though Sinker would bet creds on the fact that she would still be able to tell Wolffe was annoyed. “Think about how you can help him, how you want to help him.”That was true too.He could help his Vod relax. It had worked for Shadow and Breaker, hadn’t it? Sinker wasn’t sure how this worked, yet. He did have a whole group of people here helping him out, though. So maybe this would work, too.Still…Sinker had to ask first. “Wolffe, can I help you relax? It won’t hurt. I wouldn’t ever hurt you.” Not if he could help it, anyways. He held back a grimace at that and soldiered on. “You’re safe with us,” he promised.The tension visibly melted away from Wolffe’s body. His expression turned soft. “You know I trust you all with my life,” Wolffe said, dead serious. “I only want to make sure you are all doing alright.”“We’ll be alright because we’re all alive together,” Sinker said with a surety that he didn’t entirely feel.“That’s right,” Master Che said. “We’re all here and everything is going to be fine. Sinker, hold that feeling of wanting to help Wolffe feel more at ease.”“Mhi gar hukaat’kama,” Sinker said, holding Wolffe’s hand in both of his.Wolffe nodded. “Mhi gar hukaat’kama.”“Go ahead and bite.” Master Che’s voice was so quiet that it was almost distant. Sinker barely even heard her. Helping Wolffe relax and feel better had soaked up all of his attention. Wolffe worried so much about them. He fought for them. Protected them. He deserved some rest.Wolffe’s skin smelled like Vod: like armor and blaster oil and steadiness and loyalty. Sinker didn’t try to figure out how he could smell those things. There was only skin and biting.The blood was good. Better, somehow, because it was Wolffe’s, and Wolffe was his. His commander, his friend, his Vod. And he could help make his Vod feel better, a small consolation for this whole Sith-hell of a situation.After only a few gulps of hot nectar, Sinker pulled his teeth out, achingly sensitive and feeling wonderful for it. He licked up the few drops of blood that trickled out.“Oops,” he said roughly. This bite was a bit deeper than the others had been. Not too bad, though. He hoped.“Kriff,” Wolffe said. He was already leaning back, now caught and held up by Regor. “That’s… wow.” He blinked hard. His eyes never quite made it all the way open after that.Sinker straightened up in alarm.“No, he’s fine,” Master Che said, pressing his shoulder back down before he could lunge forward. She still had a hand on Wolffe, clearly monitoring whatever the kriff was happening to him.“Better than fine,” Wolffe said dreamily. “I feel really karking great. Kriff moving around. I’m just going to lay here. Kriff. You need to go bite Fox. Make him take a break for longer than two seconds. No, wait, what am I saying? Kriff that. You’re ours. Fox can go pester the V’s, horny bastards.”Sinker gaped at him. “Uh. Wolffe?”Wolffe blinked lazily at him, like an extremely satisfied tooka. “Hmm?”“Got the good stuff, huh?” Breaker asked from his cuddle spot with Shadow. “Osik, maybe I should get another hit. That looks fun.”“Excuse you, I am not a drug,” Sinker protested, unsure of why, exactly, he was offended when obviously he’d done a very good thing here by making his Vod feel fantastic.That thought drew him up short. He wasn’t normally that possessive of Wolffe… or, at least, he didn’t think so?“No, but that does bring up the excellent point of potential negative side effects,” Splint said from somewhere behind Master Che.“We’ll keep an eye on those bitten,” Master Che promised. With a soft sigh, she opened her eyes and gave Sinker a reassuring smile. “Well, I can definitely say that there is some type of Force trick happening.”“What.” Sinker was so beyond done with all of this.“So he’s a Jedi?” Shadow asked lazily.“No, I’m afraid not,” Master Che said with bright amusement. Her lekku twitched as she held back a smile. “There are a great number of beings and even places and things that have a stronger than average connection to the Force. It looks like Sinker has gained a very specific type of minor Force ability, one that can increase certain physiological reactions. His bite, and I suspect also his pheromones, are causing a reaction in those within a certain range of genetic similarity as himself… or rather, a certain amount of difference, as it seems to not be present with those who share his new genetic quirk.” She gave a significant look to Boost and Regor. “Though I suspect that it has effects on them as well. We just aren’t yet sure what they are.”Wolffe was far too busy hugging Regor to pay any attention at all to what she was saying. Splint was frantically taking notes one-handed as he prodded Wolffe with a scanner.“But we’re all genetically identical?” Tux said, sounding confused.“You were. But no longer. These three share a different genetic marker. As do Captain Vere and his two Vod’e.” Master Che smiled again at Sinker, maybe noticing his upset. “This is good news, Sinker. It means that we now have a much better idea of what is happening and why. Even better, it seems that there is at least some amount of personal control you can exert over this process. Those who were simply bitten had some biological reaction, but weren’t mentally influenced. With Wolffe, not only were you trying to influence him, but he also was trying to let you. I’m sure that will have an effect.”“But you don’t know how much of an effect,” Sinker said. He had an awful feeling about where this was going.“True, which means…” She offered him a bit of a grimace.Sinker sighed with resignation. “More biting.”“If you and others are willing, then yes. The more we know about exactly what we’re working with, the easier it will be to deal with in the future.” She paused for a moment and pursed her lips. “I think, though, we should set you and Velvet up with an actual Force ability teacher while we experiment with this. There are a lot of pitfalls that can crop up for those who can influence minds, even given the extremely limited parameters of what your abilities seem to be focused on.”That… didn’t sound too awful. Maybe.Maybe he could work with General Buir.Sinker twisted around so he could hug Boost. This was good news. Surely.“My own Force sensitive Vod’ika,” Wolffe cooed happily. He gave a big sniff. “I can’t wait to tell Fox. He’s gonna flip. It’ll be so great. Everything is really great. I love the Halls. They’re so big and full of healing. And bacta.”Sinker shoved his face into Boost’s shoulder and laughed. Force, Wolffe was so out of it.The laughter nearly turned to tears again as he thought of all the lessons and testing that had suddenly stretched out in front of him.Then again, all of that seemed a kark-load less scary, too.Maybe he’d been changed, he and his Vod’e, but Master Che had figured out what was going on and it wasn’t as awful as he thought it could be. Maybe a little, because the thought of screwing with anyone’s mind was terrifying. But maybe it could be good, too. Maybe he could help his Vod’e when they were hurt and upset.And his Vod’e were here to help him through it all. General Buir would be too, Sinker was sure of it.He could do this.They’d be alright.-- --- POV: CMO Carver ---Carver had had the best day that he could remember.What a karking day. Or week, maybe.Work and stress for the whole day. Then sleep. Then work and more stress and Velvet and his batchers being teasing shabuir’e. Then a whole night of really karking incredible sex. Then all day napping and cuddling and resting. What a great day.“We’re glad you’re feeling good, Carver,” Flutter grumbled nearby.Shit. Had he said that stuff out loud?“Yes,” Rayn said from elsewhere in the cuddlepile, snickering.Meh. Not like he’d kept his opinions to himself before.“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” Jesse said with a snort. And, oh! Jesse was there. Carver turned to hug him more specifically. “But no, you’re a tacturn bastard when you want to be. Keep more shit between your teeth than any three medics.”“Got to, in the Guard,” Carver said with a happy hum. “Loose lips get Vod’e reconned.” Not that he was thinking about that right now. He was in too good a mood. And besides, no one ever got reconditioned anymore, and that was a good enough reason to be happy as anything.Everyone else in the cuddle pile was so grim. They’d been grim all day.Jesse snuggled Carver back, which was wonderful.Flutter’s comm went off. There was some discussion among the others. Carver ignored it. Not his problem, today. Very little was his problem, today.Then Commander Fox was there!“Hi!” Carver beamed at him. “I’m so glad you didn’t have a heart attack from all those times you got electrocuted!”Commander-- oop, no, Padawan-Commander Fox -- gave him a very upset deadpan glare. Right. Because he didn’t like it when other people knew how often he’d been electrocuted.“Want a hug?” Carver offered, because what else could he say?“Yes,” Padawan-Commander Fox said.His armor was awful and pokey but his hugs were solid. Not only that, but when he hugged Carver, Carver felt like he was extra safe. Carver really liked that.“Your brain is so solid,” Carver mumbled happily. “It’s great.”“You are very stoned,” Commander Fox said. Oop. Nope. Padawan-Commander.Whatever. Maybe Carver should just not think about titles right now.Fox squeezed him and looked worried and pained. Everyone looked worried and pained. Maybe Velvet should bite them, too.“May I feel around the edges of your mind, Carver?” Fox asked after several very comfortable minutes had gone by.“I trust you, Ori’vod,” Carver said happily. “More than I trust any other jetii.”“Vod,” Fox said, voice thick. “I’ve got you. I’ll help. Ori’haat.”Carver patted Fox on the back. Of course he would help. He always helped, even when he was being a destructive, chaotic little shit. That sort of damage was always directed at others, in protection of the Guard, and Carver had always admired it. And maybe hated it a little.Right now, he didn’t care too much because everything was great!Things got a little blurry after that. Fox stayed with them for a while. There was more talking.Then Fox left. The medics in the cuddle pile switched in and out. Jesse stayed, for which Carver was grateful.“I wish I could cuddle with Velvet,” Carver said softly.“I know,” Jesse said. “Maybe later.”“After I make sure he knows that he’s being watched,” Flutter said dangerously behind them.Carver squirmed around to give Flutter a hug. If he was being hugged, then he couldn’t go stab anyone. Hugging was objectively better than no hugging.“How many times have I told you that you can’t go making more work for yourself,” Carver said. “If you stab him, then you’ll just have to go stitch him up.”“I’d make an exception for some overtime,” Flutter said flatly.“And if you stab him, then he’d be sad,” Carver said, following the logic out.“Kriffing right, he would be.” Flutter sounded unrepentant.“And then he wouldn’t be around to make me smile, sometimes, and that would make me sad.” Carver was having a hard time making this scenario go forward.“... Shit.” Flutter groaned.Carver hugged Flutter more. “Sometimes, I think that maybe we Guards used up all of our measure of happiness a long time ago--”Buttercup grumbled, “Kriffing when? On Kamino? Pah.” Flutter patted him on the shoulder.“--but then the war ended and it’s not so bad now? So we should keep going with that.”Jesse was behind him squeezing him tight. “Yeah, you should. And none of you are alone anymore.”“Of course we aren’t,” Carver said, mystified. “We’re all cuddling? Together? Together is great.”So many things were great.Like the fact that Carver’s comm was going off.“Ooooo,” he said and he waved a hand towards his comm.Wait. Where was his comm?“It’s the V’s,” Buttercup said, checking the frequency. “This is the comm in their room. Do you want to talk to them?”“Yes?” Obviously.The comm turned on and Velvet’s very worried face was there in the tiny holo projection. Carver had to climb around to try and get into the receiver’s range.Well. He tried. Jesse and Flutter helped.“Oh thank kriff, you’re alright,” Velvet said. He looked awful. There were bags under his eyes and his lips were pinched.“Of course I am?” Carver looked around at the rest of them. Who was Velvet even kidding with that kind of talk? Carver was great. “Everything is fantastic. Except for how I’m not cuddling with you. That could be improved.”Velvet let out a weak laugh and his shoulders slumped in a way that Carver couldn’t decide if it was depressed or relieved. The bowed head made it look depressed but the lack of tension made it look relieved.“Just as soon as the healers let us, I’ll be there,” Velvet said. “All three of us, if you want us there.”Carver scoffed. “Obviously.”“Carver…” Velvet hesitated. That pinched look was back on his face. “I am so sorry.”“For what?” Carver tilted his head in confusion. “I feel great!”That just made Velvet sigh harder. “I know you do, cabur. When you stop feeling great, I’d… I’d really like for us to talk. Alright? Promise me you won’t just disappear?”Carver stared at him. “How rude do you think I am? I wouldn’t disappear. I should give you a thank you note. Maybe some candies. You do like to suck on things…”Heh. Things.Yes, indeed, there were several things that Velvet liked sucking on. Carver would love to indulge that.For whatever reason, Velvet just winced. “Maybe… Maybe later, alright? We’re… Uh. I mean, Kix and Cody are here helping us figure this out--”There was a very quiet, “I feel so great!” in the background wherever Velvet was.“Ooooh, did you bite your slutty commander, too?” Carver asked, leaning forward with interest.“He’s not-! Alright, he really is… but that’s not relevant to the situation…” Velvet sputtered for a minute, and then just shrugged. “Yeah. Seems to have had the same effect as it did with you.”“Lucky shabuir,” Carver murmured. He couldn’t help but smirk as he stared off into nothing, thinking of all the fantastic moments he’d shared with the V’s last night.Jesse snickered behind him. “I think that makes both of you lucky.”“Lucky,” Buttercup added as he wiggled his eyebrows.“So lucky,” Carver sighed. “I feel so great. Did you know that sometimes the galaxy doesn’t feel like a huge crushing weight on you? Like everything is going to just squish you flat if you move wrong? That feeling goes away sometimes!”He shook his head in awe. Honestly, he’d thought that was a permanent feature of living.Somehow, Velvet just looked worse. “I’m glad.”Carver squinted at him. “You don’t look glad. Do you want a blowjob? That certainly cheers me up.”Flutter was back to pinching the bridge of his nose and Buttercup was outright laughing at them.“I’m really glad that cheers you up,” Velvet said, still sounding far too miserable given the fact that they were talking about his favorite subject. “Maybe later.”“Maybe now?” that voice in the background of Velvet’s room said again.“Is that Commander Cody?” Carver asked. “SU’CUY CODY.”“SU’CUY!” Half of Commander Cody’s face squeezed into the holo projection but was quickly dragged away by another hand off-projection.At first, Carver was a bit annoyed that Cody got to cuddle with Velvet while Carver had been shoved into another room.And then the annoyance just… flowed away. Like water down a storm drain. Bye bye.Carver leaned back into Jesse. This was the life.Someone was talking again. Carver hadn’t really realized until he heard his name. Maybe a couple of times.“Hmm?” He blinked. “What? I’m here. Fine. Everything is great.”“I’ll comm you again later, alright, Carver?” Velvet had his big, sad eyes on.“Whenever you like,” Carver agreed with a happy smile. “I like hearing from you.”“I like hearing from you, too.” Velvet looked like someone had strangled his favorite tooka.“Don’t worry, Vod,” Carver said, in a hurry to reassure him. “We’re alright. Everything is amazing!”“I know. Comm me whenever that starts to go away.”Carver nodded sagely. “So you can bite me again and maybe we can kriff and then I will feel great again.” This made perfect sense.Everyone around him was looking grumpy again.“... Just. … Just comm me.” Velvet cut the holo off.“Shit, are you addicted?” Flutter asked, sounding somehow even more worried.“Can someone be addicted to happiness?” Carver asked philosophically. “Or is that just the nature of the galaxy? Don’t the Jedi say that we are beings of love?”“No, they really don’t,” Buttercup said, deadpan.Carver squinted as he stared off into the distance. He tried to remember what his mind healer had said on the matter.Sometime later he realized that he’d fallen asleep again, and had woken up from some rather tangled dreams of tea cups and rainbows.Buttercup had left and now Storm was there. Flutter and Jesse were still cuddling close. Stilts was there dropping off food.“Hi,” Carver said, waving to them all. He didn’t bother getting up. Cuddling Jesse was better. “Kriff, I think I’m high on how good it feels to be hugged all day.”“Well, you’re definitely high on something,” Flutter said. He sounded calmer than he had earlier.Jesse just nuzzled Carver’s neck. He knew that Carver struggled with touch starvation. Sith-hells, that was part of why he and Kix had offered to always give Carver a bed to stay in, if he wanted. It was kind of Jesse to not mention that with everyone around.Carver blinked into space as he mulled the day over.He was starting to feel a little less… unfocused.This was undesirable. Carver held on to as much of the good feeling as he could.He didn’t really want that crushing weight on his chest to come back, or the tight pain in his shoulders, or the pinch around his nose and temples.Cuddling was better.Carver turned over and resolutely cuddled some more.Eventually, little aches and pains started to bother him. Nothing new. Just all the regular shit that he, somehow, had forgotten about for a few hours.He couldn’t settle.He looked over his hands -- which were steady as rock, as they should be -- and then his arm, and down his chest.Force, he had a lot of bites. How many damn times had Velvet bitten him? Carver hadn’t really kept track. He’d been having a lot of fun, at the time.As he trailed his fingers over one of them, he couldn’t bring himself to regret them. Even if he did look like a chew toy now.Also, his skin was sticky. Kind of. He vaguely remembered being wiped up?“How are you feeling, Carver?” Flutter asked.“... Alright?” Carver grimaced.“Oh thank kriff, he’s coming down.” Flutter let out a long breath of relief.“I…” Carver took stock of himself. He noted all the places where his joints regularly hurt and how the tension in his shoulders and jaw was coming back and how much that karking ached. He stretched out his neck a little as he thought.He wasn’t sure what, exactly, to do.For the first time today, he felt stiff and unsure.“I think I need a shower,” he said. “And a minute to myself.”“You are getting a spotter for that shower,” Flutter said. “SOP for anyone who’s been drugged like this. You know that.”Carver did, indeed, know that. He’d helped come up with those procedures, after they’d nearly lost a Vod to self-harm in the sonics after a particularly bad incident.This wasn’t that, though.Was it?Carver opened his mouth. Then he snapped it shut.He needed to think.“Alright. You can spot me,” he said to Flutter. Flutter was his second. He knew how this osik went, and what to do. Even if Carver didn’t really feel like anything bad had happened.“Why--” Jesse began.Flutter elbowed him in the side without even looking at him.“Are you alright?” Jesse asked instead as Carver sat up.Carver blinked at him. Then he looked down at the ground, thinking. “Can I get back to you on that?” he said finally.“Yeah, of course.” Jesse tapped their foreheads together, real quick, and then he gave Carver room to get up.Carver staggered for a moment as he stood, but quickly found his own footing. “Thank you for staying with me,” he said to those left in the room. He wouldn’t forget that they’d helped him.“Of course,” Storm said easily.Jesse nodded.Carver opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped. His brain was still stuttering back into motion. He needed quiet time to sort everything out.Flutter followed him into the ‘fresher and wordlessly helped him undress.“How many bites?” Carver asked as he looked himself over.“Seventeen,” Flutter said fairly evenly. If it weren’t for the tightness of his jaw and the thin pursing of his lips, he would have come off as nonchalant.“Kriff,” Carver muttered under his breath. He didn’t quite remember how many times Velvet had bitten him, but he didn’t think that it had been seventeen. Each bite was sealed with clear liquid bandage; no doubt because Vere knew that they would be getting messy all night and thus thicker bacta bandages wouldn’t be the best way to go.He climbed into the shower without another word and let the hot water pound on his back. Flutter took a seat on the little stool in the corner and angled his body so he could give Carver a little privacy while still keeping a sideways eye on him. That was fair. Carver just turned away and let his forehead rest on the tile.As the heat soaked into his bones, Carver just let himself exist for a few minutes.
Gotta wash off the liquid bandage and put some proper bacta on these…
The thought wasn’t more than a minor distraction. He wasn’t even really sure what it was a distraction from.He felt…He felt… weirdly alright?He absently began washing himself while he mulled over the previous night’s events. It was obvious to him now that he’d been out of his mind on something, some unanticipated effect of the bites, most likely.And yet, he didn’t feel like he’d been hurt or taken advantage of. He’d laid out his limits beforehand, more than thoroughly, and Velvet and his batchers had kept to those limits meticulously. They’d made sure that he was happy and enjoying himself. They'd all kept checking on him, too, to make sure that nothing changed for him as the night went on.If Carver had ever been blackout drunk, maybe he would have been able to say if this was a similar experience. He’d never been stupid enough to do that, though. All he had to go on was what he saw as a medic for the Guard. More than one of the troopers under his charge had been roofied and then assaulted. There had been injuries…He looked down at the bites that littered his arms, chest, and legs, some in very tender places.Injuries. Check. He felt a rueful, watery smirk twist his lips. The bites were injuries, sure, but hardly bad ones.Severity of injury didn’t always directly correlate with physical damage. He knew that. So what else?There was disorientation, in those prior cases with the Guards.Definite check, there, though not as much as Carver sort of expected. Last night was a bit blurry, not a blank void. He still had a rough idea of everything that had happened.And all of it had been amazing.Carver closed his eyes and did not dwell on thoughts of how sweet Velvet had been, and how his two batchers had more than lived up to their reputation. The last thing he needed was to get hard here with Flutter keeping an eye on him. Not that Flutter would have said anything. Neither one of them would, put in that situation. Bodies and brains were strange things sometimes, and any given being could have a variety of reactions to a stressful situation. There was no shame in that. Especially not for Guard medics; they’d all seen the worst of the worst.As the liquid bandages washed off and Carver's skin prickled with the sting of hot water and soap in several half-healed cuts all over, he came to the mildly unsettling conclusion that he wasn’t particularly upset.He'd trusted Velvet before and he trusted him now. Velvet had kept him safe and comfortable, pleasured and secure, even when something unexpected had happened. Not that any of them had realized it at the time. Truthfully, Carver was sure that if they had realized that something had gone wrong, they would have called in one of the on duty medics to check him out.What was more concerning was how on edge Carver felt now. After having spent a few blissful hours of not worrying about anything, all of his regular anxieties had flooded back into him. He'd already known that he had an anxiety problem. Now he could see just how karking ridiculous a lot of his worries were.Not that this stopped him from feeling anxious about all of them. No, that would be too easy.He shook his head and snorted in disgust.Just to make sure that he was on an even keel, he let himself soak in the hot water for a while longer. No one would begrudge him the time. They wouldn’t.Stop worrying about that, he cursed himself.As soon as he stepped out of the shower, Flutter was there with a large towel. He wordlessly helped him dry off and immediately began treating each bite.Several minutes went by as Flutter meticulously took samples from each cut, slathered Carver’s skin with bacta, and then sealed each wound with a bandage. Force bless him, he didn’t even comment on the bite on Carver’s ass. That would certainly make sitting down interesting for the next day or two. Carver let out a sigh.After each bite was tended to and Carver had slipped on some undershorts, Flutter looked at him and asked, “Is there anything else you need me to treat?”From the worried scrunch of his face, he was dreading the possibility that Carver would say yes.“No.” Carver shook his head and pulled Flutter into a gentle mirshmure’cya. “I’m alright.”Flutter snorted in disbelief.“...I think I may have an anxiety issue,” Carver admitted.“In general or right now specifically?”“In general.”Flutter pulled back to look at him with one raised eyebrow. “Yes? You didn’t know that?” The because it’s obvious was very heavily implied.Carver glared at him and grimaced. “I knew,” he said, maybe a little defensively. “I just… didn’t realize what it felt like to not have it.”“And now you feel worse, because ‘worse’ is normal,” Flutter finished.This wasn’t an unheard of problem in the Guard during their post-war recovery time.Carver looked down at the ground and shrugged.Then he very promptly shoved all of that aside. He had work to do and, more importantly, he needed to talk to Velvet.“I need some blacks and my plate--” he began.“You need to get checked out, by a Force healer preferably,” Flutter said, interrupting him.“And you can do that while I go reassure Velvet,” Carver said stubbornly. “You were there for that holo call from him earlier. He’s losing his mind because he thinks he assaulted me.”“He did--”“He didn’t.” Carver was very firm on this. “At worst, it was a bit of unintended inebriation. He and his batchers did everything right, and they followed every limit I set.”Another small, invisible line of tension released in Flutter. “Good,” Flutter said quietly. “Good.”Carver nodded. “Now. Blacks and kit, and then you, Kix, and Master Che can look at me while I go hug Velvet.” He paused a second and then had to ask, “You didn’t end up stabbing him, did you?”Flutter glared in the bitchiest way possible. “Sadly, no.”“Ah. Well. You can always ask to spar with him, if you’re still feeling like it.”That seemed to brighten Flutter up significantly.--It took a little doing, but Carver managed to steam roll everyone else in the room into getting him dressed and kitted out just to walk down the karking hallway where he was going to deshell again anyways.Force, the anxiety was more crushing than he’d ever realized.
I walked the whole karking way to my own room in just my blacks and the galaxy didn’t implode. Why the kriff can’t I do that now?
The best he could do was hook his helmet to the chain on his waist rather than putting it on. Flutter and Buttercup both watched him get kitted out with something akin to relief.Carver was vaguely surprised that Kix and Master Che weren’t already there, too, to harass him into staying in his room.Tranq explained when he stepped in to do his duty as Chief Doorstop.“They’re finishing up with the Wolfpack ARCs. They’ve spent most of the afternoon experimenting with that biting thing. Best part is, they’re getting results!”Carver raised his eyebrows. “Sinker and the others calmed down enough to try it?” He was surprised.“Amazingly, yes,” Tranq said. “Likely due to the good influence of that Corrie squad that’s with them, as well as their commander. Speaking of which, I’ve already sent off a message to Padawan-Commander Fox. He wanted to be updated.”Carver waved a dismissive hand. “That’s fine. They can catch up with me in Velvet’s room.”“Still think you should stay put,” Tranq said, trailing him as Carver stalked down the hallway.“Still not going to,” Carver responded, trying not to snap. He wasn’t even annoyed at Tranq for trying to keep him in place. That’s what Carver would do, after all. It was just the overwhelming feeling that the hallway was insecure and therefore he needed to be on his guard.The more anxious Carver felt, the more he wanted to go bite someone’s head off.Which wasn’t an ideal situation. Given his expression and the fact that people were jumping out of his way like he was holding onto a live bomb, he might be giving off the wrong impression.Shit.Maybe he should have put his bucket on, too.Whatever. He was at Velvet’s room.Tranq stopped him with an arm on his shoulder. “Are you sure you want to--”“I’m fine,” Carver snapped, and opened the door.Only to find a whole group of people already there. Velvet, Vector, and Vere were tightly wound into a pile, along with Kix and… Commander Cody? Captain Rex was the only one not currently entangled; he was sitting in a chair off to the side, poking at his comm.“Carver?” Velvet sat up, his eyes large and bloodshot, as if maybe he’d been crying. Force kriff it.“Yeah,” Carver said as he stepped into the room. He waited with rolling eyes as Tranq followed him, and then securely locked the door behind them once Tranq was inside.Meanwhile, mentally he was scrambling to remember everything that he’d only half-listened to for the day. Like the fact that Cody had gotten bitten and gotten at least as high as Carver had been. Though from the looks of it, he was very nearly back to his normal self. His eyes were clear and his gaze sharp. There was purpose in how he moved. Interesting. Maybe it was the number of bites that influenced the duration of inebriation?Carver purposely shoved that line of inquiry aside. He had a more important matter to deal with.Already, Velvet had moved on to apologies. If it weren’t for Vere and Vector holding onto him, he would have fully dragged himself out of the cuddle pile too.“I swear, I didn’t mean to,” Velvet babbled. “I would never want to hurt you, I pr--”Carver stalked across the room and shut him up with a hug. He pulled him as close as he could and tucked Velvet’s head under his chin.“We’re fine, Velvet,” Carver said in the ensuing silence. “We’re good. You didn’t hurt me. You kept me safe. I still feel safe with you. I still trust you.”Because that was the issue at hand. It was about safety and trust.“From the beginning, you’ve always done everything you can to help me feel safe,” Carver said softly. “And you did the same thing last night. I’m not hurt. I’m not mad. You’re fine. We’re fine.”Velvet’s shoulders hitched with a sob, and he was squeezing Carver for all he was worth.Carver kept his tight hold on him, giving Velvet the support that he needed. After a minute, he looked up at Vere and Vector. With a raised eyebrow and jerk of his head, he invited them to join the hug.They wasted no time. With obvious relief from both of them, they wrapped Velvet up in a hug from the other side, making it so that he was surrounded on all sides with Vod’e.Vere whispered softly to Velvet, “See? Everything is alright. Carver is well. He’s not mad. We--” He stuttered for a moment. “We didn’t hurt him.”Right. Because of course the other two were kicking themselves, too.Carver adjusted one arm so he could include Vere in his hug. Since his other arm was pretty securely wrapped around Velvet, the best he could do for Vector was try to nuzzle the crown of his head.“Everything is alright,” Carver said again. Even if I do have teethmarks on my ass now.Not that Carver was totally upset about that. Some part of him wanted to burn and preen in equal measure at the fact that Velvet had marked him up so well.It took several minutes before Velvet’s silent crying seemed to dry up. Carver was content to hold him until then.When Velvet did finally pull back, his face was blotchy and messy.“Seventeen bites, Velvet,” Carver said with exasperation. “Seventeen.”Velvet barked out a surprised laugh, and then smiled brightly. He rubbed his eyes and laughed again. “You enjoyed it at the time,” he answered with some of his usual cheek. “And I can’t say that I’m upset that I get to have my marks all over you.”Captain Rex whistled off to the side, quiet and impressed.“Wow,” Cody said. His eyebrows were up at his hairline and he was nodding along, as if Carver -- or maybe Velvet -- had done something truly noteworthy.Carver just gave him a flat look, daring him to make more commentary.“But you’re really fine?” Velvet asked again, this time with a little less distress. He patted around Carver’s plate, as if trying to feel out where any bandages were.“Aside from the realization that I have a significantly more intense anxiety disorder than I’d previously acknowledged, yeah, I’m fine,” Carver grumbled.Vere and Vector both blinked at him, while Velvet shot him a concerned look.Kix just huffed in a way that may have been amusement or exasperation. Carver couldn’t tell.“You’re getting a session with your mind healer after this,” Kix said.Carver nodded. That was a given.“And you’re getting more tests done,” Tranq said. “We need data. Specifically, something that might tell us why you were out of it for a full rotation and Commander Cody only got stoned for a couple hours.”“You can take samples while I review the current data,” Carver said, already reaching for a nearby datapad. He was reluctant to let go of Velvet completely. With how Velvet was still hanging off of him, he likely felt the same way.“Annnnd he’s really back,” Kix said with a laugh.“Yeah, yeah.” Carver rolled his eyes.“Do you mind that everyone is here while we do this?” Tranq asked.Carver shook his head. Then he stopped. Yes, he did mind a little. But having a small audience was better than leaving Velvet alone again while he was still clinging to him like a barnacle.Maybe Carver also wanted the comfort of his close Vod’e around him, too.“Just make sure the door is locked,” Carver said. “Give me a little warning when someone is coming in.”Unlike how I burst into the room here, he couldn’t help but think.Oh well. This was important.“Easily done,” Tranq said with a nod.Carver resigned himself to a very thorough examination.At least he’d get a hug while he was getting that examination.“At least we get to hug you,” Velvet said, echoing his thought.“No biting,” Kix and Tranq said at the same time.Velvet stuck his tongue out at them.Carver let himself think about all of those very pleasant bites. As he did so, a small smile curved his lips, totally unintentionally. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe if I have a day off to burn…”The sound that Velvet made was positively dangerous. When Carver turned to look at him, Velvet was grinning like mad, fangs on full display. “Yeah?” he asked, leaning into Carver’s side.Tranq bonked Velvet on the head with his datapad. “No.”“Hey!” Velvet rubbed his head while his batchers and CO snickered at him.“Carver, how did you get this fiend to behave for you?” Tranq said, clearly frustrated.“I’m sorry, CMO Tranq,” Carver replied blandly. “Patient confidentiality.”That just made the rest of them laugh more, all while Tranq groaned.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Captain Rex ---Watching CMO Carver interact with the Vs and simultaneously get poked and prodded was an outright fascinating experience.Rex had always known the Vs were considerate lovers -- they took after Kote, in that respect, as did many more of the Ghosts -- but seeing the trio get so distressed at the mere thought that they might have maybe unintentionally hurt Velvet's favourite Corrie had been eye-opening.Luckily, CMO Carver had been able to guess how those three were likely reacting to his enforced absence and that objectively painful comm call.In what Rex was fairly sure was typical fashion for him, CMO Carver had blasted his way past the other medics and into the room, just so he could calm the Vs back down.And even now that they were steadier, the Corrie medic looked like he was very much considering just letting them hug him for another few hours. Rex wanted a bowl of popped grains.Fives, who had been pestering him for updates on Kote for Kuo, and then shifted over into gossip mode after (Rex assumed) the ver'alor had left, asked for another update, So, what's the ETA on your riduur's release, Captain?Still unknown, Rex answered, but he's more or less back to normal, as far as I can determine.Hitting on his ARCs? Fives joked.Rex bit back an amused huff. Under normal circumstances, Kote probably would have been. That was a vod who had fun flirting. Right now, though, he was watching the scene unfold with as much interest as Rex. Not right now, but he did get a blowjob, remember?, he sent to his di'kut, then went back to spectating the absolutely sappy scene unfolding on the bed.Kote was running an affectionate hand through Vector's hair, in what Rex suspected was an excuse to stay close to the tangle of Ghost ARCs and Corrie medic.Kix, who was still ostensibly keeping an eye on Kote, gave Rex a sardonic look. "You'd best not be spreading confidential intel," his CMO warned him."Nah," he replied easily. "I know better than that. I learned opsec from Alpha-17, just like my riduur'e, remember?""Better at implementing it than Commander Cody, though," Tranq sniped, getting an outraged exclamation out of the vod in question.Opening a private comms chat with Kix, Rex asked his CMO, Is there a betting pool on how long it takes the Vs to put a bracer on CMO Carver, yet?Kix read his message, visibly bit back laughter, and shook his head. If there is, I haven't heard about it.There was a short pause, and then Kix added, I'd recommend not asking anyone else outside of the Halls about it, either.There might not even be anyone inside the Halls, that was safe to ask, for that matter."How're Cody's numbers looking?" Rex asked Kix out loud, prompting his medic to pull out a scanner and step over to where he could reach Kote, if needed.Kote scowled in Rex's direction, not liking that something was dragging his attention away from the almost sickeningly sweet display in the nest of blankets on the bed, but let Kix poke and prod him one more time.After what felt like an age, Kix nodded, satisfied. "You're back to baseline, Commander," he told the room, sounding caught between relief and amusement. "We'll need to do a debrief, but you'll be free to leave after that."Tranq made a relieved face of his own. "Good. We definitely don't need Kuo or Lun'dar breaking into the Halls to track him down because the karking Mandalorian Council refuses to leave well enough alone," he grumbled.You still there, Captain? Fives prompted him. Din'kartay?Getting Cody checked out, Rex replied. He should be free to go, soon.Fives' leer came through clearly in the next sentence. If you need support, Echo and I can help you check him out.Shaking his head at his ARC's ambitious bid for Kote's attention, Rex sent back, Good luck with the attempt, vod. Right now, my riduur and I have bigger problems on our plates."You said the Wolfpack was holding up alright?" Rex prompted the medics present in the room."You volunteering to help them, if they're not?" Kix half joked."If we need to," Kote stepped up without hesitation.Tranq muttered something less than flattering about Kote's decanting tube. "For now, the situation is stable, and we'd rather not destabilise it by throwing more people at those ARCs while they're feeling vulnerable.""Besides," Carver put in, "that room's already getting crowded with all the Vod'e crammed inside it."Vere made an amused sound and hugged Carver closer for a moment. "Always so practical," he commented."Someone has to be," Carver parried, sounding surprisingly pleased by the compliment and blushing just enough that Rex could see it, "and none of you front-liners seems to manage, so it falls to us medics to do it."Not sure whether he should be amused or insulted, Rex carefully kept his mouth shut.Safer that way.Fives pinged him again. So, apparently the pasta kitchen is serving those insane seaweed-filled pastry things again for latemeal. Limited batch size. If you want any, you'd better reserve it now.The thought made Rex's mouth water. How the kriff something that sounded like it should be disgusting managed to be so tasty was beyond him. Clearing his throat, he asked the room, "There are seaweed pastries in the pasta kitchen, apparently. If we want any, we'll have to act fast."The medics exchanged looks -- Rex knew most of them had been subsisting off snacks and ration bars and the like, and this lure was a calculated one -- then shrugged at each other."If there are enough, sure," Tranq said.Carver, who secretly loved just about anything that came out of he pasta kitchen, nodded, doing his best not to look like he was salivating as much as Rex. "Agreed."Rex glanced around the room, getting a series of nods from each of the Vod'e present, then wrote to Fives, Order us ten, to go, and as many servings of whatever pasta is on offer. I'll pick it up.He was sure Fives was cackling gleefully, anticipating trying to grill him once he left the Halls. "I'll be back with the food in about fifteen," he told the room, and got a series of nods. "Someone want to go poll the Vod'e in the other room and get them a treat?""We'll get it figured out," Vere answered him. "Can you bring it back?""I might need a cart or a second set of hands," Rex told him."Ask Fox," Kote suggested, from where he was still lazily lounging on the bed. "He's bound to be on his way here, anyway, now that CMO Carver is mostly recovered, and I can almost guarantee you he hasn't had latemeal yet."That was solid logic. Rex nodded. "Not a bad plan."As he left the room, Rex commed Fox, waiting impatiently until his riduur picked up. "Hey, Fox," he said, without waiting for a greeting, "I'm supposed to be picking up food for everyone, but I could use a hand. Got time to help out? I ordered you one of those seaweed pastries I know you like."Fox half-seriously glared at him, and Rex just knew he'd derailed something of lesser importance with his request. "Fine. But only because I know you're taking it back to the Halls and I'm on my way there anyhow."Grumpy at the delay in seeing his CMO, Rex translated. "Don't worry," he said as he walked. "CMO Carver is doing fine. I just saw him, and he seemed to be more or less his usual caustic self.""Good," Fox said, his tone slightly less grumpy, "but I need to see it for myself.""You will. We'll bring him food, too. That'll improve everyone's mood," Rex pointed out.Fox didn't bother to reply, just muttered some wordless insults that held no heat. Rex, well used to the way Fox tended to snap and snarl when he was stressed about something, didn't let it bother him. Instead, he tried to distract Fox from his lingering worry. "So," he drawled, "I think we might have to open a betting pool."Diverted -- curious despite himself, most likely -- Fox asked him, "On what?""On how long it'll take the Vs to officially drag your CMO into their open polyamorous relationship, long term.""Until Kote's himbos what?"Laughing at his riduur's stunned face and the sputtering that didn't really form full sentences, Rex just kept walking. "You'll understand what I mean when you see them," he said, as he walked into the pasta kitchen and his comm pinged with a request from CMO Splint to bring back his ordered ten servings of food and pastry along with the rest. "I'll wait for you at the counter with the food. Ret'." --- POV: CMO Carver ---Carver tried to manage the testing and scans with what little good grace he had. Having Velvet happily tucked up to his side helped -- helped both of them, probably.With Captain Rex -- Captain Rex, Captain Rex, kriff, now that Carver wasn’t high off his shebs he needed to remember rank -- out picking up food for their group, Tranq had stepped out to go see what the Wolfpack ARC’s and the group in their room wanted.While Vere and Vector debated with Commander Cody about what else they might want to order, Kix gave Carver a discreet prod.“You know I’m gonna have to do a more thorough examination, right?” Kix asked.Carver sighed.“What do you mean, thorough?” Velvet asked. Clearly, he could sense the banthashit coming because he’d tightened up his hold on Carver’s torso.“It means he’s gonna need to do a visual exam of everything, not just the bites that are in polite places.” Carver grimaced and gave a significant look down to his crotch, then he raised an eyebrow at Velvet.“Oh.” Velvet had the grace to wince.“Yeah.” Carver rubbed his hands over his face.“I assume that Flutter did some of that already,” Kix said, poking at the information updates on the medical datapad in front of him.“He did, but it would be worth it to see if anything has changed,” Carver grudgingly admitted.“We can go into the ‘fresher for a few minutes,” Kix offered. “I’ll be quick.”Velvet looked torn between pouting and growling.Just thinking of stripping and having Kix give him that kind of an evaluation in a room with this many people made Carver’s skin crawl. There was also the fact that so many people were coming in and out of this room, and would be again with latemeal in hand. Granted, they were all Vod’e. That helped.… Still.“‘Fresher, please,” Carver said. “We’ll be back shortly,” he assured Velvet.Vere must have noted Velvet’s upset, because he turned his attention to them. “Everything alright?”Carver snarled, more to himself than anyone in particular, and said, “Gotta go get my shebs measured and tagged. Force, at least it’s not a full cavity exam.”Kix snorted while everyone else in the room grimaced.With a little helpful prying from Vere and Vector, Carver was disentangled from Velvet and herded into the ‘fresher by Kix.“The faster we finish this, the sooner we can get you back to cuddling,” Kix said before he stepped into the ‘fresher, possibly for Velvet’s benefit.Carver nodded. He fully believed that Kix wanted to do this exam. He also fully believed that wasn’t even close to the only reason they were now alone in the ‘fresher.“What’s wrong,” Carver said flatly.“Nothing, except I needed to check in with you privately.” Kix gave him a flat look and gestured for him to take a seat on the stool. “Seriously, are you feeling alright? Are you alright with…” He gestured back towards the door. “All of that?”Carver rubbed the back of his neck and let himself slouch a bit. He trusted Kix… they might even be friends, at this point. Carver wasn’t very good with socialization. He’d never had friends. Colleagues, yes. Squad members, yeah. Batchers, yes, before the war. It was hard for him to gauge.“I’m good with what happened with Velvet and his batchers,” Carver said after a long moment of thought. “I’m less good with the sudden realization that maybe I’m significantly more high strung than I’d thought I was.”Kix stared at him with furrowed brows. Then he hummed a little. “Bad come down, then?”“I don’t think I would call regular life a come down, but kind of yes.” Carver grimaced. Then he shrugged with one shoulder. “I liked last night and today, though. Maybe not all the time, but… if they wanted to again…”His face felt like it was on fire. He studiously looked away and rubbed his arms.“Alright.” Kix let out a long breath. “Alright. You talk to us if that changes, okay? We’re here for you.”“Using the royal ‘us’, eh, Vod?” Carver glanced at him and smirked a little. It was easier to poke fun and be sarcastic than to dwell on his own clusterkriff of emotional issues.Kix rolled his eyes. “‘Us’ as in me, Jesse, or the V’s. Tranq or Flutter, too. You’re not alone in this.”Said so plainly, that sentiment made Carver’s eyes burn. He blinked it away.“Yeah. Vor’e, Vod.”“N’entye.” With that, Kix straightened up and took a step over. “Ready for the invasive stuff?”“Might as well get it over with,” Carver said with a sigh and started stripping.Each bite was checked over again. Bless Kix for not saying anything about the one on his ass, or the two very close to his groin on the inner thigh. After a quick visual exam of basically everything and a few more samples taken, Carver was allowed to get dressed.“Good news, nothing looks infected,” Kix said as he sealed up the last samples.“Yay,” Carver said, deadpan. He fastened up his blacks and looked at the plates of his armor.His anxiety said that he absolutely should be wearing his plate. The last twenty-four hours had very abruptly shown him how ridiculous that was. The support staff in the Temple didn’t wear armor. The Temple was safe. There were on duty Guards, both Vod’e and Jedi. Those beings wore armor. There was no sane reason for Carver to walk around fully armored all the time.… Except that it made him feel less awful about being in an ‘unsecured’ area. Unsecured. Carver was damn well aware that his view on what was secure versus unsecured was only really shared by other Guards.And now he had the added irritation of knowing how nice it would be to cuddle up to all three of those ARCs without any armor in the way.“No one will mind if you’re in your kit,” Kix reminded him.Somehow, that just made Carver grumpier. He minded. And yet he could not physically stop himself from wanting it.With a great deal of resignation, he put it all back on.
Maybe if I left my gloves off…
That seemed stupid.Little steps, his mind healer would say. Probably tomorrow, or whenever Carver got around to getting his weekly session in.“Do you want a hug?” Kix asked, maybe seeing his internal struggle.“I feel stupid,” Carver said as he stared at his gloves.“That’s not an answer to my question.”Dammit.Carver glanced at Kix out of the corner of his eye, to gauge his mood. Kix looked unconcerned about whatever Carver decided to do. Which meant he wouldn’t be upset either way. Probably.“... Yeah. If that’s alright,” Carver said hesitantly.Kix immediately pulled him into a tight hug. Carver couldn’t help but melt into it.He stayed there for a couple of minutes, enjoying the touch as well as the relief of being quietly held.“Thank you,” Carver said quietly.“Anytime.” Kix smiled warmly at him. “Ready for pasta? Hopefully it’ll be here soon.”As if on cue, Carver’s stomach growled.That made them both snort. Carver nodded towards the door.When they got back into the main room, Jesse was there laughing along with Vere and Vector. Commander Cody was grinning like a nexu, and Velvet had a very thoughtful look on his face.“Su’cuy, riduur,” Kix said, immediately going over to give Jesse a kiss. “What mischief have you all been cracking?”“Me? Nothing,” Jesse exclaimed.“And them?” Carver said, pointing his chin at the bed where Velvet and Vector were curled into either side of Vere.“Nothing serious,” Vere assured him. “Our esteemed alor was just telling us how he and Commander Fox operate at long distances.”Ah. That was probably a tricky thing, given the people involved and their duties. Any long term relationship was.“I brought it up,” Jesse said.“Why?” Carver asked, suspiciously.Jesse looked at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Because friendships over long distances are always hard. I thought that Cody might have some good advice for us all.”That stank of banthashit and Carver wasn’t entirely sure why.It seemed Commander Cody wasn’t either, because he gave Jesse a suspicious raised eyebrow himself.“So you were just asking for you, huh.” Kix gave Jesse a look that Carver couldn’t quite interpret.“Of course.” Jesse kept up that innocent look.Carver pinched the bridge of his nose and resolutely decided not to think about it, whatever this was.“Come sit with us,” Velvet said, waving him over.Since that was exactly what Carver wanted to do, he moved to comply immediately.Once seated, Velvet octopus-ed onto him, even lacing their hands together. Carver had decided to leave the gloves off, and now he was glad for it. Velvet’s hand was warm and dry in his. Very pleasant. Nice, even.To his mild surprise, Vector and Vere scooted over, too.“Can we join?” Vere asked politely.Carver blinked at him. He wasn’t even sure why he was surprised. “Sure?”And then he had two more Vod’e cuddled up to his unforgiving shell. Carver’s face burned as he tried to figure out what he should be doing.Kix was eyeing them like they were a puzzle and Carver didn’t like it. He gave Kix a murder glare just to preemptively deter any commentary.That just made Kix hum. It was that thinking-hum again.“You know, I think maybe we should kick the good Commander out of here for latemeal,” Kix said. “This room feels crowded, doesn’t it?”They all stared at him.Kix turned his head to raise an eyebrow at Jesse.Jesse raised both eyebrows back. “... Oh. OH. Yes, yes, you are right. We should do that.”“Wait, why does Jesse get to stay when I’m being kicked out?” Commander Cody asked.“Because he’s my riduur and I want to have latemeal with him,” Kix said with impeccable logic. “Once Commander Fox gets here with the food, we’ll split it up. You can go eat with your riduur’e and we can all have a quiet moment.”Commander Cody gave Kix a fairly incredible bitchface at the prospect of being shooed away from his own ARC’s.“Go ahead, alor,” Vere said. “You can come back and cuddle with us later, if the medics will allow it.”“We need to sync up with Splint and Master Che and see what kind of results their experiments are getting, but that seems doable.” Kix shrugged.“It would be good to check in with Wolffe,” Commander Cody grudgingly allowed.Carver watched them all with narrowed eyes. Something was going on here. He just wasn’t sure how much of it was Kix meddling to get Carver some alone time with Velvet and how much was something else.“Then it’s settled!” Kix grinned at Commander Cody. “Come on, let’s go get you set up with the Wolfpack.”--The moment the food arrived was obvious if only because Commander Fox was suddenly there giving Carver a look that seemed to go right down to his soul.“You look better,” Commander Fox said with obvious relief. “Good. That’s good.”“Undamaged and ready for duty, sir,” Carver said with a little twist of his lips, just enough to show a bit of dry sarcasm.It was a bad joke based on what used to happen during the war, and earned him a pissy glare from Kix for his troubles.They all knew now that ‘undamaged’ wasn’t the right thing to say, it was ‘unharmed’ or ‘uninjured’. Especially given the current situation.“Nothing like a little light drugging to spice up the day,” Commander Fox said with bone dry humor.Carver nodded along. “Makes the day fly by. Sometimes literally.”Velvet was sputtering next to them, a partially incoherent attempt to protest, “What? No--” The rest of the room was looking at them like they were misbehaving.With a subtle shift of his shoulders and a sideways glance, Commander Fox asked him in the Guard’s silent language if he was alright.I’m fine, Carver responded in kind, with barely-there movements that the Guard had trained hard to notice. Good. A little stressed, but not due to them. He indicated Velvet and his batchers with a small tap. They’re good. Treated me well.Some of the tightness around Commander Fox’s eyes went away and his next breath was easier.“Good,” he said, with a nod. “May I check you over with the Force?”Carver nodded. “Please.” Commander Fox wasn’t a healer, but he’d been through every Sith-hell the former Chancellor could come up with. He’d be able to tell just as easily as any Master Healer if something was still wrong.Commander Fox put a hand on Carver’s shoulder and closed his eyes.There was a faint feeling of pressure. Not bad. Just present. Then came the sensation of safe-relief-good-protect.Carver leaned into it, briefly closing his eyes and quietly thanking the Force for Commander Fox. He watched out for them, always.“Ori’vod,” Carver said quietly.Commander Fox gave his shoulder a squeeze, and smiled crookedly. “Everything looks in order. Make sure you get an actual Force healer to verify that, though.”“Of course,” Carver said automatically.“Master Che will check on him after she’s done with Regor and his squadmates, I’m sure,” Kix said.“I’m glad you’re alright,” Commander Fox said.And then Kix was hustling him out of the room… along with Commander Cody, who’d snuck back in, likely to see his riduur. Those two were ridiculous and everyone knew it.Discussions were had between Kix and Tranq in the doorway. Carver side-eyed them as hard as he could. Jesse was being an efficient distraction, getting pasta and other food items handed out to Carver and the rest of them.“Do you get the feeling we’re being herded?” Carver muttered.Vere must have overheard him. “Yes, but isn’t that what medics always do?”Carver turned his vicious glare to Vere. Not that it helped.“Have some pasta.” Velvet shoved a take-out box into his hands along with a fork.… The pasta did smell really good. And Carver was very hungry.Food now, suspicions later. That thought made him huff in laughter and think of Commander Thire saying, There is always time to be suspicious.“What’s so funny?” Velvet asked, nudging his elbow.Carver just shook his head. “Nothing, really.”Velvet shrugged and went back to eating. Vere eyed him like a properly cautious Vod. Carver approved.Kix got himself settled with his meal. The room was quiet for a few minutes.“Eventually, you’ll get to the other shoe you want to drop,” Carver said pointedly at Kix, while in between bites.“What shoe?” Vector sat up, alarmed.“Nothing bad!” Kix was all wide-eyed innocence. “I just thought that this would be a good time to talk about long term relationships.”“What.” Carver froze with his fork mid-air.“Cody is going to be back here as soon as he can, and then you’ll need a prybar to get him off,” Kix said, pointing his fork at Carver’s plate, probably to encourage him to remember to keep eating. Carver was too busy having a mild internal meltdown to comply.Velvet’s answering smirk was smug as hell. “I don’t know, I never needed a prybar before.”Vector, Vere, and Jesse all snickered while Kix rolled his eyes.“You know what I mean,” Kix said. “If it’s not Cody, then it’ll be Master Che or Tranq, or more tests or more visitors.”“I mean, we’ve got to sleep sometime,” Vere said.Kix threw a rolled up napkin at him. “Not the point. You all did the cutest reunion I’ve seen in ages--”“Cute?” Carver said, barely getting the word out.“--And you did it right in front of Cody and Rex,” Kix continued on blithely. “Cody is as thick as two durasteel planks, so he won’t infer anything--” The V’s all snickered. “--but Rex will. You should all talk about how you’re feeling and get yourselves straight before the gossip gets out of control.”“Captain Rex wouldn’t say anything that was held in confidence,” Vector said, sounding very sure of himself.“No, he wouldn’t, but the four of you have hardly been quiet about whatever the kriff is going on.”Carver finally found his voice. “You were the one who encouraged me to stay the night and have some fun! You and Tranq both!”Kix shrugged, unperturbed. “And that was a good call. But none of us told you to come barging in here after coming down from your Force roofie, declaring how safe and good you feel with Velvet.”Carver’s face burned and he felt his shoulders come up to his ears.“And there’s the whole thing where all three of you are starting to act like you want something more regular,” Jesse said, nodding at Vere, Vector, and Velvet. “Tell me I’m wrong.”Velvet opened his mouth… and then closed it.Carver felt like he was going to combust. “I don’t-- …”Vere turned to look at Carver. There wasn’t any unhappiness or judgement in his gaze, just calm, cool curiosity. “Don’t want something serious?”“No, it’s not that,” Carver said immediately. “I just…”“Don’t think we want something serious?” Vector asked. Velvet was conspicuously silent, watching Carver with dark eyes.“No, that’s not it at all,” Carver said, nearly snarling. Now he was angry. “The kriff kind of person do you think I am? You three are devoted to each other. Anyone can see that. Just because you haven’t exchanged armor doesn’t mean you don’t know what a ‘serious’ relationship is.”Sure, Vod’e talked about how slutty the V’s were. It was so well-worn a topic that it was nearly a non-issue. That had nothing to do with their loyalty to each other.Carver crossed his arms and fumed, torn between being pissed off on their behalf and upset that they’d think he was that shallow.For whatever reason, Vector made a small pleased noise and Velvet was grinning at him.Vere just raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s the problem?”Shit.Carver hunched over and stared at his plate. What exactly was the problem? He sat and tried to puzzle it out.“... I think I just don’t know why you’d want something more regular with me,” he said finally. He waved off Velvet’s immediate wordless protest. “Yeah, I know, you like sex, and we’ve had some fun, when you can pry the fun out of my kriffed up brain, but that’s not… I don’t know. You can get that from anyone.” Carver snorted. “Likely with less work, given my issues.”Velvet set his plate aside and scooted across the bed to wrap his arms around Carver’s shoulders. “Sure, but I like you. You’re the first one I run to the moment we’re in-Temple. You’re the one I miss while we’re away on Mandalore.”“It made us very curious,” Vere said when it was clear that Velvet was done. “We wanted to see what’s got him so taken.”“You share all,” Carver muttered, blushing hotly. He couldn’t quite relax, even with Velvet wrapped so nicely around him.The fact that Kix and Jesse were watching this like they were at a holoshow was not helping. They might as well call it latemeal and a show, for kriff’s sake.Vere hummed. It wasn’t really an agreement or a disagreement.“Gotta say, you live up to the hype,” Vector said.Carver buried his face in his hands. Maybe, maybe, a small embarrassed sound came out of him. Velvet just laughed at him, that dick.“Hype?” Jesse asked.“Kriff, Jesse, the way he karking fisted me,” Vector gushed lovingly.Carver was going to die. This was how he would pass on to the Force, he was sure.“Nice.” Jesse sounded very impressed.“I think we were all very pleased,” Vere said.Carver didn’t say anything. He knew the moment he tried to open his mouth all that would come out would be gibbering. What the kriff could he say to that? Yay, maybe? Force. He was happy to have made a good impression all while going insane himself.Velvet’s breath tickled against Carver’s ear. “Ner cabur,” he whispered, sending a hard shiver through Carver’s whole body.Nope. Can’t let himself get distracted with that. No matter how distracting Velvet was. So very distracting.“That--” Carver swallowed and tried again, even though he resigned himself to talking through his hands to keep his embarrassment under control. “That’s. I’m glad I was good enough. But. Alright. All of you get good sex all the time. I’m not. That’s not all a relationship is built on. I don’t know why I’m. I’m just.”He ground his teeth.“Which is why I wasn’t thinking that we’d exchange armor,” Vere said dryly. “That’s something that requires time to explore.”Carver’s heart stuttered.“It would be nice to do that exploration, though,” Vector added. “Something… more permanent. While we get to know each other. You know Velvet pretty well. Vere and I want in on that.”They’d actually considered exchanging armor? With him?!“Nng?” Carver was ashamed of that noise. Force kriff it.Velvet rubbed his hands up and down Carver’s arms as he made a soothing hum. Since Carver was still in most of his kit, he couldn’t really feel much of that. He appreciated the effort nonetheless.“I’d very much like for you to have an open invite to our bed,” Velvet said. “Whenever you want, for sex or just for sleeping.”“I actually think it might be nice to do a proper courting,” Vector said. While Carver was staring at him, Vector finished off the last bite of pasta on his plate. “Wmmut?” The word came out muffled around all the food in his mouth. After he swallowed, he said, “What? It could be nice to try the romantic thing. And I know I’d like to get to know you better, in general. And also get fisted by you again. That was pretty hot.”Because of course. Carver pressed his palms into his eyes.“Really?” Vere asked, sounding a little pleased and surprised. “Hmm. Well, a proper courting could be good. I want to spend more time with you too, Carver. I think Velvet is already sold.”“I’m game to try.” The pleasure in Velvet’s voice was evident without even looking at him. “At the very least, I’d really like Carver to be a more permanent fixture in our bed and sex lives in general.”“Agreed,” Vere said.“Same,” Vector added.While Carver’s brain was still at a complete stop, Kix decided now was a great time to jump in, because of course, that trouble causing gremlin.“You all do know that Carver already has an open pass to mine and Jesse’s bed, right?” Kix said.Carver dropped his hands in time to see the shit eating grins on both his and Jesse’s faces.“That’s-- it’s not-- you two are already in a stable relationship,” Carver objected.“And?” Jesse raised his eyebrows.Carver’s mouth opened and closed for a minute. He knew the others were all snickering at him. He just couldn’t make his brain work any faster. Torture, death, and danger: all of those things, he could handle, but apparently this was what caused him to short out.What the kriff.“We’re not--” Carver felt so tense that he thought his back might get stuck in a hunched crook. “I… I think that we’re friends, so I thought that was just a… favor.” He didn’t want to say that it was pity, because it obviously wasn’t. A medical necessity, maybe? A mercy for a fellow medic?“A favor?” Kix said. Shit, now he looked offended.“Well, it’s not like I’m a joy to be around,” Carver said caustically. He ran his fingers through his hair, which was difficult since Velvet was still clinging to him… and now growling softly, which Carver did his best to ignore. “I needed help. We work as a team. We’re… friendly. You’re kind. I…”“You should stop digging yourself deeper into this hole,” Jesse said, not without sympathy.“This is why I don’t talk to people,” Carver groaned miserably.“Which is also why we’re here to do the talking for you,” Kix said, matter-of-factly. “So, the facts of the matter are that we are friends, and we are not doing you a favor. Jesse and I like spending time with you. And--”“And Carver should be able to speak for himself, just to make sure there aren’t misunderstandings,” Vere said. There was a slight edge to his voice.Kix rolled his eyes. “Obviously. We’re just going to help get him through some of these starting hurdles. He knows he can and should speak up.”Carver used battle signs to tell him to go kriff himself.“See? It works out.” Kix grinned. “So. Back to what I was saying. He’s got an open ticket to our bed anytime he wants.”“Which he hasn’t used nearly as often as he should,” Jesse said, giving Carver a pointed look.“I didn’t want to intrude,” Carver said miserably.“You aren’t,” Jesse said as he set his dish aside. “We’ve said that before, and we’ll say it as many times as you need. You aren’t intruding. You aren’t an imposition. We want you with us whenever you feel like it.”“Same with us,” Velvet added, nuzzling into Carver’s ear.Carver couldn’t decide if he wanted to bury his head in a pillow or melt into the sheets.Embarrassment won out. The best he could do was turn his head so he was half-hiding his face in Velvet’s hair.“We’re willing to share custody rights,” Kix said, leaning back in his chair magnanimously.Carver gave him an incredulous look. “Custody rights,” he said.“We’re kind of like your harem, really,” Jesse added.Velvet, Vector, and Vere all cackled while Carver burned.“I’ve always wanted to be in a harem,” Vere said musingly, a satisfied curl to his lips.“Does it really count as a harem if you aren’t sexing him up?” Velvet asked.“I mean. We have…” Jesse looked off to the side coyly.“Oh really?!” Velvet loosened his hold on Carver enough to lean over. “Spill!”“Little stuff, now and again,” Kix said with a shrug.Now Carver felt like he had to say something. “They offer. I just… I work a lot and I’m not always… I don’t…” He worked his jaw back and forth and tried to organize his thoughts. This was awful. “I like sex, and I like them. I specifically try not to go to them just for sex. I can get myself off. They deserve more than just seeing me when I’m horny. I’d probably not bother them at all except--”Except for the near-crippling touch starvation. And the loneliness. And the fact that he really liked spending time with them.Carver shivered and leaned into Velvet.“You only see us when you’re horny,” Velvet pointed out, obviously drawing a negative inference.“Velvet, you are always horny,” Carver said flatly. “That is always your first priority. Which is fine. Sex is good for you and healthy. And I like being with you,” he added shyly.“Not always, but often,” Velvet admitted. “Very often.”“And you do kind of hunt him down specifically to get kriffed,” Vector pointed out.Velvet got a very smug, very satisfied look on his face. “Good times.”“Right,” Kix said, bringing them back on point, “so I think we’ve established that you are specifically welcome to spend time with us and them, even if it’s not for sex, because we like you as a person.”“I have no idea why,” Carver muttered mulishly. It wasn’t like he was a nice person. Kind, maybe, because he did try to take care of those around him. But nice? Carver struggled with basic conversation. Courtesy was beyond him, he was sure.“You’re very protective, in a pleasing way,” Vector said. “We can see it, even with the limited amount of time Vere and I have spent with you.”“And, to be fair, also from what Velvet has told us,” Vere added somewhat apologetically.“You’re fun to talk to,” Kix added. “Though you could stand to find a hobby.”Carver sighed. “I’m aware. My mind healer keeps trying to help me find one that’s not work related. It’s been a shitshow.”“We could help?” Vector said.“We’ve made sex into a fine art,” Vere said.“Sex is great but my dick would deflate if I kriffed as often as all of you do,” Carver said, deadpan.That made everyone else laugh again. Carver wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t trying to be funny.“Which does bring about another good point,” Vere said. “With this new adjustment to our arrangement, you’d have priority in our bed. We’d still want to have the flexibility to spend time with other people, but you’d get first dibs.”“What.” Carver’s brain stuttered again. “You’d skip out on someone else to have sex with me?”He wasn’t that good.“We need to work on your self-esteem,” Vector said with a little frown.Kix grimaced. “It’s a problem everyone in the Guard struggles with.”“A side effect of the repeated abuse,” Carver said cuttingly. It wasn’t like it was their fault.… Or at least that was what his mind healer had said. He hunched his shoulders and tried not to second guess himself.Even though that was the stupidest possible thing to say right at that moment.Force kriff it.Velvet snuggled close again and left a little kiss on his jaw. “It’s alright, Carver, ner cabur.”That embarrassed-fluttery feeling was back. Shit, how did Velvet know just what to say to make him melt?Carver dared to snake an arm around Velvet’s waist.“There you go,” Velvet cooed to him. “That’s perfect.”And there Carver was, back to feeling like he might burn up from blushing, now with the added benefit? Drawback? Of also feeling mildly turned on by all the sweet attention Velvet was giving him.“You’re a dangerous Vod,” he muttered.“Sweet talker.” Velvet grinned. “So would you like to be a priority for my batchers and me? Spend time in our bed, even just to cuddle?”“We have regular cuddle piles with Commander Stone, too,” Vere said. “We’d continue those. I’ll talk with Stone to see if he’d like to regularly add you to that.”Since that was something they’d all already done once, Carver was fairly confident that Commander Stone would be happy with that. He nodded. Then he gave Vere and Vector a sideways look. “You want me around more?”Vere nodded. Thankfully, he didn’t seem annoyed by repeating himself. Which was excellent, because Carver really couldn’t wrap his brain around it.“I want to get to know you and see if you’d work out long term for something more intimate than being a regular kriff buddy. Even if regular kriff buddy was all any of us ended up wanting to do, that would be fine, too.” Vere effortlessly exuded calm and command, looking a million times more comfortable with this than Carver thought he would ever be. There was clearly a good reason he was captain of the 212th's ARCs.“Same with us, obviously,” Kix said. “You’ve always got a spot in our bed, though Jesse and I are more interested in a close-friend-with-benefits situation. We’re not looking for another riduur. And if we always end up doing more cuddling than kriffing, that’s good with us, too.”Carver had no idea what to say to any of this. ‘Thank you’ seemed condescending. ‘Alright’ was probably underwhelming.For lack of anything better to do, he wrapped his other arm around Velvet, pulling him close. Vector had to hurry to catch Carver’s plate before it fell, which Carver was grateful for but also too overwhelmed to actually acknowledge.“I don’t know what the right thing to say here is,” Carver said quietly.“Tell us what you want and what you’re comfortable with,” Vere said easily. “No one here is going to be upset with anything you say.”Well, that was something Carver usually had shit luck with. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he muttered. Before anyone could object to that, he shook his head and said, “I like spending time with you all. I’d like to do that more. I’m worried I’ll interrupt whatever you all have going on with each other, but… if you say that you all are alright with that, then… then that’s… that’s a thing you know better than me.”“Damn straight, we do,” Velvet said. The sappy look on his face softened any possible sting to his words. “And we’re sure that we want you.”Carver soaked that in for a moment. “... I’ve got a lot of problems.”“Who doesn’t?” Kix said with a snort. “Not like any of us got out of the war unscathed.”That was fair. Carver had to nod at that.He grimaced. “I hate to say this, but… all of you are going to leave soon. Both of your battalions are permanently on Mandalore. I mean, sure, there are visits…”“That’s why I was asking Commander Cody about how he manages things with Commander Fox,” Jesse said. “They make it work. We could certainly give it a try.” He shrugged.“Besides, we’re only at the harem stage of this courtship,” Vector said with a snicker. “Which, by the way, how do you feel about us all wearing matching shimmer silk thongs? Maybe like a uniform?”“Kill me now,” Carver groaned into Velvet’s hair.The worst part was that he kind of liked that. He would really love to see any of them in pretty, skimpy outfits. His mind rebelled a little at the idea that they might wear that under their blacks -- that didn’t seem safe or comfortable -- while at the same time that was so karking hot.“Ohhhh, Carver, I can smell how much you like that,” Velvet crooned. “Think about it and see if you want it. We won’t try until you give us a solid yes.”Relief rushed through him. “Vor’e,” Carver said.“Should we have a harem name?” Jesse asked Vector.Vector shrugged. “Do we need one?”“Presumably, you’ll be telling other potential partners that you meet that you have prior obligations,” Jesse pointed out.“When needed, yes,” Vere said, settling back. He held out a hand to Vector, who melted into him without complaint.“You don’t need a harem name,” Carver said… maybe a little waspishly. “I can’t karking believe you all are agreeing to this.”
I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.
“Kinda hot, really,” Velvet said with a half-shrug.“But it’s settled then?” Vere said, looking to Carver. “You want this and you’re good with these new adjustments to our current routine?”Carver knew he had to be as red as his kit, but he nodded along anyways, and did his best to be polite. “Yes, please,” he said quietly.The sound that Velvet made went straight to Carver’s dick.“Ner cabur,” Velvet growled.“No Force tricking anyone until you can figure out how to control that osik,” Kix said as he expertly tossed a napkin at Velvet’s head, half-hitting Carver, too.“I wouldn’t!” Velvet protested.“We know,” Vere said, soothingly. “You’ll probably still need to practice. A lot.”Carver dared to kiss Velvet’s cheek and gave him a squeeze. “You’ll do well. And when you figure it out, I wouldn’t mind letting you do the biting thing again. Once in a while,” he warned. “When I have a free day.”Velvet practically jittered in place with his excitement. “I am going to practice so much.”“You are going to wait for that trainer that Master Che digs up,” Kix said caustically.Velvet deflated a little. “Yes. That.”Jesse pulled out his comm. “I can’t wait to tell my squad that I’m in a harem.”Carver closed his eyes and groaned. There it was.“Yesssss,” Vector said, immediately lunging for his own comm.“You alright with that?” Velvet asked, as he gave Carver a nudge.“This is why you’re the best,” Carver said grumpily.“Favoritism! Already!” Jesse crowed. “No favorites in the harem! It sets a bad precedent.”“How many people do you think will want to join in on this?” Carver said, exasperated.“How many do you want?” Velvet wiggled his eyebrows. “I do love a good orgy.”“Or cuddle pile,” Kix added.“Maybe it’s a good thing you all won’t be in-Temple all the time,” Carver said. “I may actually get sleep at some point.”“We’ll holo you for comm sex,” Velvet promised.“Please don’t,” Carver said, giving him a wide-eyed look. “Do you know how insecure personal comms are?”“We’ll work something out,” Vere said, before that argument could devolve. “So? You alright with us talking to our squads?”… Strangely, Carver was. “Yes,” he said firmly. Then he scowled and pursed his lips. “If anyone has shit to say, I can make them regret it.”“That’s hot,” Velvet whispered.Carver refused to give in to the urge to bury his face in his hands again, and instead kept that durasteel in his spine and added, “And if I don’t get to it, Flutter will. He’s been itching to stab someone.”“We noticed,” Vector said quietly, probably to himself.“That goes for you all, too,” Carver said, looking around the room. “If anyone has something nasty to say about what we all decide we want to do, they can come answer to me and I’ll see how they like permanent nerve damage. You’re all grinning, but I’m serious.”“That’s why we’re grinning,” Vere said, showing off all of his teeth.“Well, this will be fun,” Kix said.“It already is,” Jesse said. Kriff, he was already typing on his comm.“You should finish eating,” Vector said, giving Carver a nudge with his foot.“I’ll feed you, if you want,” Velvet offered with a bright smile. “That’s what Favored Harem Member duties include, right?”“I thought it was infinite blow jobs?” Vector asked.“Or that!” Velvet looked honestly thrilled at either option.Carver was too busy hugging Velvet to properly facepalm, so instead he just closed his eyes and prayed to the Force for strength.Despite his discomfort, he found himself smiling a little too.Maybe… maybe this wouldn’t be bad.Maybe it might even be good.He’d have to see how it all worked out.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Captain Rex ---After seeing the way the Vs had been so protective and almost possessive of their favourite medic, watching Cody behave much the same around Fox was making him wonder.Rex shoved those thoughts aside, in favour of enjoying his food. The pasta they'd gotten from the kitchen was great, as always. Long noodles doused in sauce just hot enough to make the nose run and the eyes water, topped with dried chilli flakes and a drizzle of uj'ayl. Rex took another mouthful and swallowed down a groan of pleasure. This was heturam at its finest.He spared a moment to glance around the table of the breakroom they'd gotten shooed into -- after attempting, and failing, to gain admittance to the room the Wolfpack ARCs still occupied -- watching his riduur'e for a moment, then Fives, who'd followed him into the Halls looking for gossip, and Echo, who'd loyally followed his di'kut'la Vod. Cody was eating with one hand and insistently hugging Fox around the waist with the other arm.Rex couldn't blame him, he decided as he took a next bite, working his way methodically through the container in front of him. He and Kote had both missed Fox over the past couple of rotations. Their riduur had been working himself to the bone, trying to get that karking artefact figured out. Obi-Wan was also high on Rex's most wanted list. Their jetii needed to come the kriff to bed, this sleep cycle, or Rex was going to go hunt him down and drag him there. He was pretty sure Kote would help.Fox -- somewhat predictably -- finished eating first."No'," Kote said, more or less distinctly, around a mouthful of noodles, holding tightly onto Fox, "stay. We miss' 'ou." He swallowed then went on. "Your CMO is fine, stop worrying. He's got Kix and Jesse to help keep him stable, and my ARCs to hug him, if that doesn't work."Fox scowled at him. "Your ARCs got him into this position in the first place," he sniped.Fives and Echo watched intently, storing away every word for later. Kark. This was going to be making the rounds sooner rather than later.Couldn't be helped."They did, but they're working on getting everyone sorted," Rex pointed out, finishing his meal and scraping his box clean of as much of that tasty sauce as he could. "Leave them be, riduur. They need to do that for themselves."A short silence reigned, and Rex just knew one of his ARCs was going to--"What the kriff even happened?" Fives spoke up. "This have something to do with why Commander Cody was stuck in the Halls, all rotation?"There it was. Rex gave in to the inevitable.Fox gave Kote a dirty look, then tried to stave Fives off. "Even if it did, it would be none of your business, ARC."Fives was undeterred. "And why was the Commander stuck in the Halls, for that matter?""Why is it important that you know that?" Kote asked, temporarily drawing Fives up short.Echo snorted, and jumped in to save his vod's shebs. "If we're going to need to be on the lookout for something weird to happen when we come into contact with the Vod'e who got hit by that bizarre Force osik, then we'd like to know that beforehand."That was even halfway reasonable, Rex had to admit. "Our first priority," he said, breaking his own silence, "is to make sure those six Vod'e are in good health and in a good place, mentally. After that, and after the healers and medics clear them for release, you'll all get debriefed on what you need to know."Echo's eyes narrowed as he thought that over and looked for loopholes he could turn to his advantage. Fives did much the same.Before they could, and before Rex had managed to come up with another more airtight way to keep them from prying into what really wasn't their business, both of their comms pinged. Rex's did a moment later, and then Kote's and Fox's.All of them exchanged looks."Bets that we have to go haul someone's shebs out of the fire?" Kote asked, as he reached for his."I'm not taking that bet," Fox answered as he unlocked his own.Rex followed suit, and then just stared down at the text that gleamed innocently back up at him, sent out to a surprisingly long list of recipients, including everyone on the ARC squad, by his Lieutenant. I got invited into a harem this rotation :D , Jesse had written.What in the name of the Force?Kote was staring down at his own comm. Fives and Echo were making high pitched noises of glee.Fox was glaring at his, as though it was at fault for all of the misery in the galaxy. "I'll murder them if they put one toe out of line," he half-growled. "No one will ever find the bodies."Rex snickered. "Udesii, riduur," he said, "it'll be fine.""Who are we murdering and why?" Echo wanted to know."We'll help," Fives offered.Rex pinched at the bridge of his nose. "No one is getting karking murdered."Fox muttered something about getting Flutter to do it. Kote outright laughed at him."Seriously. Who karked up, and how can we help fix it?" Fives persisted.Rex gave his ARC a quelling look. "No one, and you won't.""Ah," Echo made a quiet noise of understanding. "Fives, I think I've got it figured out.""You do?""Given how pissed off and protective Commander Fox is being, one of his troopers has to be involved. Given how calm Commander Cody and Captain Rex are being, and how they seem to know exactly who the players are, that likely means at least one Ghost is among the Vod'e in question.""Logical so far," Fives agreed.Rex debated cutting the discussion off at the knees, but refrained, well aware that, if he did, it would only pick back up elsewhere, where he couldn't keep an ear on things. Kote made an amused sound, and Fox tried to stand up to glare down at Fives.Kote kept his hold on Fox, all but pulling their riduur into his lap, instead, and hugging him close.Echo watched Fox warily for a moment, then picked the thread back up again. "Since all of this happened in response to that textcomm about Jesse being in a harem..."Fives grinned broadly. "A Corrie, a Ghost, and Jesse?" he said, his voice betraying his tightly leashed excitement. "Wait, no, that would have to mean Kix was involved, too."Quick on the uptake, as ARCs ought to be. Rex raised an eyebrow at them, and said, "I trust you two are aware that you should keep this to yourselves.""Jesse textcommed our whole squad," Fives pointed out. "Even if we do, the others likely won't."Fox made a pained sound. "Rex, your ARCs have no idea what the word discretion means.""Hey!" Fives protested."No, Fives, he's not wrong," Echo shushed his squadmate, getting another outraged squawk in response."Definitely not," Kote agreed, his face stern, but his eyes amused."Do yourselves a favour," Rex jumped in smoothly, "and shake your lonely brain cells to life: don't spread the news around. Let one of the others take the fall."Kote raised an eyebrow at him, and Fox let out a snort that somehow straddled disbelieving and impressed."If you wanted us to logic out who was in this harem of Jesse's, you could've just said so," Fives grumbled."You? Logic?" Fox scoffed."They did pass ARC training, riduur," Kote put in, watching the scene unfold like it was the best entertainment he'd seen in months."We're plenty logical," Echo said, sounding long-suffering. "The front Fives puts up just disguises it neatly."Fives preened, as though having a reputation for being utreekov'la was a good thing, and put in, "Besides. It's not likely to be that difficult a mystery to resolve. There aren't too many Corries that Jesse is close with. And when you factor in that there's got to be at least one Ghost they're both close to, that number shrinks even more."Rex had to concede the point. He carefully kept his mouth shut, though, waiting to see what would happen next and half wishing for a mug of caf to sip on."Your conclusion?" Kote prompted Fives, tugging Fox in close and shoving his nose into Fox's hairline just behind his ear, right where the padawan braid gleamed against Fox's skin, very deliberately getting Fox to melt against him rather than bristle in defence of his CMO, whose identity hadn't even been confirmed yet.It almost had to be him, though. Rex was pretty confident his read of the emotional reunion he'd witnessed in that room was correct. Given all the parties involved and the fact that Rex knew Kix and Jesse had joined Velvet in the past for private cuddle-and-sex times with CMO Carver, it was a short leap from that to guess that they were involved in the formation of that harem…Though the wording describing that relationship was interesting.Fives hesitated, thinking his answer through, then spoke up. "Jesse and Kix are friendly with a lot of Corries," he answered, "starting with the Commanders, and ending with the medics. But if I had to guess who he was friendly enough with to enter into a harem? Hmm. Maybe Nareh, or Ravi.""Neither of them are a good fit, though," Echo pointed out. "They're not also friendly with the same Ghosts that Jesse is."That got a thoughtful nod out of Fives, who considered the issue for another moment, then sat bolt upright in his chair and blurted out. "Kark, it's not the Corrie CMO, is it?"Kote snickered at his reaction. Rex joined in after a beat.Fox glared at Fives, daring him to say something -- anything -- that could be construed as a criticism.Echo, who hadn't made the same intuitive leap, blinked at his vod. "The Corrie CMO? That's who you're going with?"Starting to draw himself up, Fox drew breath to say something scathing only to be pulled insistently back into Cody's embrace. "Udesii, riduur," Cody soothed him. "Echo didn't mean it that way."Wincing, Echo nodded. "I-- nayc, I didn't. Not trying to imply he can't or shouldn't or whatever else. Just... surprised. He doesn't seem like the kind of Vod who'd want to be in a harem. Much less one led by a Torrent ARC."Wincing slightly himself, at the thought, Rex said, "Maybe it's not Jesse who's leading. Maybe it's Kix. Kix is better at organising anything that involves complex logistics than his riduur. Jesse has his strengths, but that's one area where Kix outshines him."Kote nodded, agreeing. "It's not that he can't do it. He's just too impatient to do all the gritty detailwork and fill out the needed forms."As Rex raised an eyebrow at his riduur, who was implying that harems and orgies kriffing ended up generating flimsiwork, Fox rolled his eyes expressively. "They'd better not hurt my CMO, or I'll take it out of their hides."Rex scoffed. "You didn't see how upset they were just by the thought that they might've accidentally hurt him, riduur. Or how relieved they were when he reassured them that they hadn't.""CMO Carver definitely enjoys Velvet's visits, whenever we can get away from manda'lase long enough," Fives said into the short silence that fell on the heels of Rex's statement, his eyes narrowed in thought again. "Jesse, Kix, CMO Carver... and Velvet? Is Velvet the Ghost?"Fox grumbled some uncomplimentary things about Kote's ARCs under his breath. Kote snickered at him some more.Echo eyed Fox, a little bit warily, likely wondering if Fox's protectiveness was going to find an outlet in the form of an attempt to terrorise him. Or Fives, which was rather more likely. Echo was the more cautious of the pair. "But if Velvet is the Ghost," he asked slowly, "aren't the other two Vs also taking part?"Shrugging, Fives replied, "Probably, knowing them. They've been curious about CMO Carver for almost as long as Velvet has been enthusiastically seducing him."Echo picked that moment to catch and hold Fives' eyes. "Vod no.""I'll second that," Rex immediately jumped in. Echo's banthashit detectors were second to none where Fives was concerned."Why not?" Fives grumbled. "You don't even know what I was thinking."Kote shrugged. "We don't need to. We know you, vod'ika.""And I can feel your two lonely brain cells trying to formulate a plan," Fox put in. "Don't."Pouting, Fives slouched back down in his seat and picked up his pastry, forgotten while they'd discussed who, exactly, was likely to be part of Jesse's new harem. Rex was pleased that he had managed to get away without confirming or denying a thing. Now he just had to ping Bookie about the betting pool that was guaranteed to spring up within the hour.His riduur turned a scathing look on him. "I can feel you plotting, too, Rex."Caught out, Rex said nothing, faking being unaffected."Don't try the innocent routine with me," Fox persisted. "I'll get it out of you eventually."As long as it wasn't in public.Time for a diversion. Rather than say a word about what he'd actually been considering -- the idea of putting credits on the Vs was still intriguing as kriff --, Rex opted for a better strategy."I'd tell you now," he answered as he pictured one of his favourite jerk-off fantasies, doing his best to make sure Fox got every detail, "but I think that's better done when we have a private room to make use of."Mmm, he was getting a bit turned on, himself, now. The sense-memories that went along with spitroasting Fox with Kote or Wolffe were some of the best things in his life. The heat, the slick glide, the tightness... the depth of the affection and the way Fox sometimes did his best to turn the emotion right back on them...Fox tried to keep glaring, but gave in. "Fine. Later."As they ate their pastries and made obscene sounds of enjoyment over the food, well accustomed to the habits Rex indulged in with his partners, Echo and Fives just snickered at them and teased them all about being shebs over buy'ce for each other.Rex decided he didn't mind.He kind of was. --- POV: ARC Trooper Velvet ---Everything was better now that Carver was in Velvet’s arms.Velvet was just so kriffing relieved that Carver wasn’t upset with what had happened. The whole altered-mindstate-with-sex thing that had happened was so karking close to some of the horrible things that the Corrie ARC’s had hinted about in past conversations with Velvet. The questioning that had happened after Velvet had spent that night with Knight Issador came to mind.That whole bag of thoughts and memories got very promptly shoved out of Velvet’s brain. He would not be thinking about that now, thanks. Not when he’d already spent the day stewing on worst case scenarios.All of which had proven to be irrelevant because Carver had laid them to rest as soon as he was able to get out of bed!“I’m fine,” Carver said for the thousandth time.“So very, very fine,” Velvet said, adding in an eyebrow waggle.They’d long since finished latemeal. Jesse was cuddled up into the bed with Vector, while Vere got another round of torso scans from Kix. Velvet was still glued to Carver’s side, both seated on the edge of the bed while Carver absorbed whatever was in the datapad that Kix had shoved at him.“Huh,” Kix said, drawing Velvet out of his flirting.“What,” Carver said, finally tearing himself away from their medical charts or whatever the kriff he was reading.“Well.” Kix pursed his lips as he adjusted the handheld scanner into a different spot on Vere’s stomach. “How hungry have you been in the last day? Normally hungry?”Vere furrowed his brow and then grimaced. “More, I suppose. I feel like I’ve eaten a lot, given that we haven’t been doing anything but kriffing.” His expression turned to more of a leer. “Though we were maybe being a little athletic, and there is nothing quite like an all night kriff.”Kix rolled his eyes and turned on the tiny holoprojection on the scanner he was using. “The eggs have already grown back.”Vere opened his mouth. No words came out.Velvet’s eyebrows shot up. “That was quick.”“Very,” Kix said, “given the size. As far as I can see, they aren’t quite as large as they were before the… the laying, yesterday.” He shook his head. “I think all the calories you’ve been consuming have been going directly to egg production.”Vere stood frozen. “I…”“Very curious, since they hadn’t really changed in size for the whole day prior to laying,” Kix said. He frowned in thought. “I wonder if there is a maximum size that they’ll grow to before they stop.”“Karking what,” Vere said, now horrified. “There had better be!”The terrifying image of Vere trying to pass something the size of a kava melon through his dick raced through Velvet’s head. He winced.“There’s no room inside me for that!” Vere clutched his stomach like it might suddenly burst open.“Huh. That’s actually a good point.” Kix retreated to go dig through a drawer, and came back with a measuring laser. “Hold still.”“Why?” Vere didn’t look happy at all and Velvet didn’t blame him one bit.“How would that even fit into me?” Vector added with quiet fear.“I thought uteruses expanded?” Jesse added.Carver threw part of the blanket at him. “You are not helping. Don’t worry, Vere. We’ll keep an eye on you. It seems likely that there is a limit to how large they will get.”“But you don’t know,” Vere said.Kix was busy using the measuring laser on Vere’s torso. So innocent a thing, that little light that wrapped around Vere’s stomach.“You look fine to me…” Velvet said, eyeing Vere’s firm midsection.Then he squinted.Something was different.“Oh Force, what’s wrong?” Vere said, gripping the edge of the bed tight. “I know that face and that is not a good face.”“You’re fine,” Kix said absently as he copied down measurements. “Everything is proportional. There aren’t any concerning bulges or anything.”“Oh, only unconcerning ones,” Vere snapped.“Huh.” Velvet continued to stare. Something was off and he could tell. “Vere, come here, I want to get my hands on you.”“As much as I appreciate the thought, I don’t think now is the time,” Vere said, half-hysterically.Vector moved to hug Vere from behind. Vere leaned back into him; his face was pale with worry.Velvet gave Carver one last squeeze and then slid off the bed. Kix obligingly moved out of the way for him. That was nice. Velvet would thank him. In a minute.Right now, he had something to figure out.He put his hands on Vere’s waist, smoothing his palms up and down. The more he felt, the more he frowned.“Velvet, Vod, what?” Vere sounded stressed.“It’s…” Velvet got a firm hold on Vere’s waist. Then, keeping his arms at that distance apart, he lifted his hands to view the empty space. “I think your waist is thicker.”“Karking what.” If Vere was upset before, now he sounded down right offended.That was enough to snap Velvet out of his contemplation. There were worry creases on Vere’s forehead and his eyes were pinched in the corners. Every line of him screamed unhappiness.“Kriff,” Velvet said. Immediately, he stepped forward to wrap Vere in a full body cuddle, solidly squishing him against Vector. “You’re gorgeous, ner vod, Vere.” Mine, is what he didn’t say. They didn’t need to say that. “Beautiful. Fit. Strong. I wouldn’t even have noticed except…”“Except you know my measurements as well as your own,” Vere said. He buried his face in Velvet’s neck.“Everything looks normal on the measuring laser?” Kix asked, confused.“Yeah, but what are those measurements?” Velvet asked.Kix rattled off some numbers.“Too big,” Vector said, answering before Velvet got a chance to; he was too busy nosing into Vere’s jaw, taking in his scent and rumbling in a comforting way at him.“My waist got more than a span thicker.” Vere sounded numb.“Huh. I’d wondered why you didn’t look disproportionate with all the eggs,” Kix said.Vere made a miserable little noise. Both Velvet and Vector squeezed him tighter.“None of my clothes will fit,” Vere said.“You can go without them,” Velvet said immediately. “I won’t mind. Not even a little, I promise.”That made Vere laugh, even if it was a little shaky.“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Vector added. “Naked is a great look for you.”Vere shivered and then the tension flowed out of him. His arms tightened around Velvet. “Vor’e, ner vod’e.”“N’entye,” both Vector and Velvet said at the same time.There was no debt between them. Not ever.“How did you all even notice that?” Jesse asked. “He looks the same.”Velvet shrugged, not that Jesse would see it.“We’ll set up a monitor on you,” Kix said. “Instant notification on changes. But seriously, Vere, I don’t think this is something you need to worry about yet. We knew that the eggs were likely to grow back.”“Just not this quickly,” Vere said, nodding.Velvet stayed pressed up next to him.“... Just a few more measurements, and then I’ll let you all settle down for the night,” Kix said, apologetically.“Do you want us to stay?” Jesse asked. “I’m game.”“Same,” Kix said.“We could make it the first official meeting of Carver’s harem.” A peek over Vere and Vector’s shoulders proved that Jesse was offering them a hopeful grin.“Up to you,” Velvet said quietly.Vector hummed in agreement.“Yeah,” Vere said. Then louder, “Yeah, that would be good. I’d… I’d appreciate it.”“Is it alright if I stay too?” Carver asked hesitantly.Velvet turned to give him an incredulous look. “How can it be a meeting of the harem without you there?”Carver turned red and absently rubbed his arm. There was a bite there under his plate, Velvet was happy to recall. “I don’t get to tell you what you all do, with or without me.”“As exciting as a harem members only orgy sounds--” Velvet’s talking was interrupted by Vere snorting in amusement. Velvet cleared his throat and continued. “--I think you being with us tonight would be good.”“We can always get together when we’re on Mandalore and record a sex tape,” Jesse offered. “Something to send Carver?”“No!” Carver said, sounding scandalized.Kix said, “No,” at nearly the exact same time, but his reply was definitely more tired.“Awww,” Vector said softly.Carver hid his head in his hands.Vere’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Alright. We’ll come back to that topic at a later time,” he said, sounding much more like his usual calm self.“Just a few more measurements and then it’s ‘fresher time,” Kix said. “You should clean up before we hook you up to the machines and settle you in for the night cycle.”“Right.” Vere sighed.“I’ll help,” Velvet offered.“Or we all could?” Vector said, sounding hopeful.“No kriffing in the ‘fresher,” Kix said sternly. “We want you three back to baseline. Baseline.”“Plus, we all won’t fit in there,” Carver said thoughtfully.The idea that Carver might have joined them for that suddenly raced through Velvet’s mind. A thousand sexy plans immediately sprung up. Carver, on his knees with Velvet, the two of them sucking--“Stop.” Kix’s data pad gently bopped Velvet on the head.“Hey!” Velvet rubbed where he got hit.“Later,” Vere promised.That mollified Velvet. Vere kept his promises.--It didn’t take long for them all to take their turns cleaning up. Kix and Carver stepped out for a few minutes to do medic things. The rest of them alternated who went into the ‘fresher with who set up the room for a larger sleep pile.The sex the previous night had been wonderful, but Velvet was almost just as excited for the sleep pile tonight. He didn’t like sleeping alone. Having a few more trusted Vod’e in addition to his batchers sounded even better.So maybe there was a little groping before sleeping. There wasn’t anything wrong with that. Velvet wanted to make sure that his Vod’e were all well and taken care of.Kix rolled his eyes at them a lot but didn’t say anything. Jesse clearly caught on because he ended up doing a little spit swapping with his riduur before they all settled down.Velvet was damn delighted to see Carver strip out of his blacks -- even if he was still wearing undershorts -- because he was covered with Velvet’s marks. There were bacta bandages, sure, but under each one was a bite from Velvet.And now, Vere and Vector sported bites, too.The thought made Vector want to purr.“I’m going to bite you both more,” he said to Vector and Vere as they all settled in.“As much as you like,” Vere answered.“Agreed,” Vector added.“Mine,” Vector said with a happy sigh.“We’re gonna need to watch that,” Kix muttered.Velvet grinned and thought sexy thoughts.“You want to do that now, Vod?” Vere asked. Force, his voice was all low and just that right amount of rumbly that always made Velvet's deece perk up.“No,” Kix and Carver said at the same time.“Awww,” Vector muttered.“Sleep only tonight.” Kix reached across a couple of bodies to poke Velvet’s arm.To Velvet’s delight, he felt Carver lay a gentle kiss right on the back of his neck. “I’d like to watch you bite them, later. Maybe when we aren’t in the Halls?”And like that, Velvet was struggling not to rub off onto Vere’s thigh. “Kriff…”“Sleep,” Kix said.Just then, Carver yawned.Alright. So maybe sleep would be good.Velvet resigned himself to a little light petting and tried to settle for the night.--Upon waking up in the morning, they were all relieved to discover that Vere’s eggs hadn’t grown significantly in the night.“There’s a little bit of an increase,” Kix said as he and Carver both looked over the scans, “but that just brings them back up to the weight of the ones you laid in Vector.”“That is the weirdest sentence I have ever heard a medic say,” Vector said under his breath.“You should not spend more time in the Halls, then,” Carver said, unimpressed.Kix snickered.“We’ll continue to check them periodically through the next couple of days,” Carver said.“And then, if there’s no change, hopefully by then you all will be ready to be at least partially released,” Kix added.“Released?” Vere sat up from where he’d been lounging, tangled in pillows and blankets. This movement partially dislodged Velvet from his cuddling spot.“Hey.” Velvet glared up at Vere.“Sorry.” Vere immediately moved so that Velvet could still snuggle comfortably.
Ah, much better.
Carver’s eyes crinkled with amusement. He hadn’t put his blacks back on and Velvet was enjoying all of the eye candy on display. That view was even more delicious once Carver started peeling his bacta bandages off. Velvet’s bite marks were already reduced to thin pink lines. If Carver kept applying bacta, they might disappear entirely.Kriff, Velvet hoped that he’d let some of them stick around.Right as Velvet was opening his mouth to proposition him, Carver looked up to Velvet and said, “No.”“What?!” Now it was Velvet’s turn to sit up. “Why not?”Carver’s body language was still loose and there was a playful smile on his lips, so Velvet knew that he hadn’t misstepped somewhere. But still. This was unfair.“Not during shift,” Carver said. His tone was stern. His eyes kept wandering down to Velvet’s mouth and then lower.Oh, was that all? Velvet grinned and leaned back, arching his chest up and writhing just a little bit, just enough to show off his own body. “You aren’t on shift yet.”Vector and Vere snickered. Jesse was still dead asleep. His loss.“He’s got a point,” Vere said. He trailed a hand up Velvet’s chest, pausing to run his thumb over Velvet’s nipple. Kriff, that was pleasant. Velvet squirmed in place again.Through mostly-closed eyes, Velvet could actually see Carver’s higher brain function begin to fail.Carver swallowed hard and his eyes went wide. That adorable blush was back on his face. “... Uh…” he said.Vector climbed over Vere and crawled up between Velvet’s legs, giving his torso a hug. This conveniently left his face fairly close to where Velvet was already beginning to fill out his underclothes.“We’ll make sure we get you to work on time,” Vector said in a tone of voice that went straight to Velvet’s dick. Kriff, Velvet loved his batchers.Kix held a hand over his mouth as he apparently tried not to laugh.Carver made a cute little, “Nngh?” and then glanced at the locked door, and then at the chrono on the wall.“You cannot have an orgy this morning,” Kix said, amused.“Are a couple of blow jobs really an orgy?” Vere asked.Vere was always asking the good questions.Carver said something that came out mostly gibberish, and then rubbed his hands over his face. He took a slow breath in and out and then gave Velvet a more composed look. “Yes, I want to do that with you all. No, not right now. I really do want to check in with the other ARC’s and Master Che and see what the results of yesterday’s experiments were.” Before Velvet could object, he added, “If we’re lucky, then they’ll have the whole biting thing figured out and then the next time you and I are together, you’ll be able to give me a nibble without any adverse effects.”Velvet snapped his mouth shut. He paused a moment, and then nodded. “Alright, that’s a good reason.” He took stock of himself and glanced at Vere and Vector. Both of them shrugged at him and nodded. “I’d think we’re still going to start the day with blow jobs, though. Just to take the edge off.”Carver and Kix both snorted, though Carver looked significantly more hot and bothered than Kix.Kix was probably used to this kind of thing with his own riduur. Or at least, Velvet hoped that he was.“You all have fun,” Carver said, his gaze lingering over them. “I’m going to hit the ‘fresher and get dressed and then get caught up on the reports.”“We can take turns while our ARCs get a little more rest,” Kix said. Then, with a mischievous smirk, he said, “Unless you’d like me to blow you in the shower real fast?”Carver let out a tiny little eep and stared with his jaw a little dropped. “I. Uh. Yes, please?”“Hey,” Velvet said. He could be giving that blow job.Kix grinned and pushed Carver towards the ‘fresher. “Medic supremacy, Vod’e.”Carver stammered all the way across the room, not once coming up with anything intelligent.As soon as the door shut, Velvet, Vector, and Vere all broke into giggles.“This harem thing is fantastic so far,” Vector said with a happy sigh.“Shut up, I’m trying to sleep in for once! Kriff,” Jesse grumbled into his pillow.That just made them laugh more.Jesse groaned and dragged a pillow over his head. There was more muffled cursing.“Well. We might as well take care of ourselves, then,” Vere said, after the snickering had died down.“Excellent idea, Vod,” Velvet purred.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: Kuo'ran Wren ---He really, really wanted to hide his face in his hands. Stifling the urge, Kuo did his best not to show just how badly the current discussion was making him want to turn and flee."I just can't make myself believe it," Fixer was muttering.Ink snickered at him. "You'd better believe it, Vod. Frankly, if anyone in our squad was going to end up as part of a harem, it was those three or'dinii'se."Kuo had to agree with the statement, but frankly, he was still trying to come to terms with the fact that the Vod'e apparently accepted harems as normal and usual. Most mando'ad'e didn't try for anything more complicated than a trio.For kriff's sake, that was more than complicated enough for most sentients to balance.But, as he'd repeatedly been reminded by his alor, the Vod'e strove for excellence in all things. Or... most of them did, at any rate.Kor, the Corries' ARC Captain, was scowling at the pair of Ghosts. "They'd better not kriff this up," he grumbled."I'm kind of amazed Jesse managed to convince Kix to go for something like that," ARC Captain Demir put in. "Most CMOs have enough to do just keeping on top of the demands of their jobs, and refuse to add complicated personal lives on top of that.""Clearly, Kix is not most CMOs," Rigo quipped, then snickered. "I wonder who else is involved."Leure scoffed. "Probably the Vod'e Kix is closest with," he pointed out, his tone reasonable.Flange and Rook both snorted. "Obviously," Rook replied. "No one sane would just jump into joining a harem with Vod'e they'd just met."Rigo smirked at them. "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean it's impossible.""Thank kriff none of my ARCs are involved," Demir put in, and rolled to wrap himself back around his squadmate, Rogue. "I do not need that kind of drama in my daily life."That got snickers out of most of his troopers. "But think about it, Captain," Myrdo teased him, "the opportunities to razz them would be unending.""I do not want to risk pissing off a CMO," Demir shot back, "and if you have even a single lonely braincell left, you shouldn't either."That had the Corries all laughing quietly, their amusement small and contained compared to the others', but there nonetheless.Demir turned to face him, "What brings you here, anyway, ver'alor?"Put on the spot, Kuo shrugged. "Wanted to make sure all of you were still doing alright. Levelled out and not too stressed. It's never a good time when aliit is injured or in a situation where they need support, but you can't offer it."That had the Corries all nodding, their expressions suddenly sober. The Ghosts and Wolfpack winced, physically flinching a bit, which had the Corries wrapping them up in hugs and quietly calming them back down. Kuo could tell that all of the Vod'e in the room were handling things far better together than they would have separately. They would have done their best by their squadmates, much as they were doing now, but it would have been far less effective than this. Having the Corries around was working wonders for the other two groups, and that, in turn, was empowering the Corries to a degree that was almost awe-inspiring to watch.After a moment, Kuo went on, "What I want to know is how the kriff you found out that there was a karking harem forming around CMO Kix."Ink shrugged and held up his bracer with its integrated wrist comm. "Vector was bragging about it. CMO Kix must've given him the go-ahead to tell us.""Lucky shabuir," Leure grumbled. "If Velvet's bragging about his favourite medic is anywhere near the truth, Jesse hit the jackpot, and so did whoever else they allowed to join them.""The Vs do everything together," Demir pointed out, speaking slowly and clearly thinking hard, and getting looks of dawning realisation out of the rest of the troopers in the room, "do you think--?"Rigo swore."Wait," Tack blurted out, his expression stunned, "what? Jesse, Kix, and all three Vs?""They're all pretty friendly with each other," Leure said with a shrug, "but I wouldn't have guessed that they'd be interested in each other enough to join a harem...""The Vs are notoriously free with their affections," Orca grumbled, fond but exasperated. "I doubt that's it."The Corries all exchanged looks, their body language going still and their movements minimal for a few seconds as they thought that over. Then Waves and Stars nodded, backing Orca up.Two others from their squad, Naor and Swift, gave the trio dubious looks. "The Vs might go for a harem," Naor agreed, "but with CMO Kix? I'd have thought they'd hold out for a chance with someone who complements their preferences a bit better. CMO Kix and his riduur are far more conservative than those three.""I'm not about to try to tell any of them who not to seduce," Kuo grumbled. "Manda knows I would hear about how wrong I was and how amazing it was for the rest of my life. In all the gory detail I never wanted to know."That had most of the Vod'e in the room cackling like kekekars."Velvet definitely isn't shy," Demir agreed, still snickering."Neither is Vector," Orca grumbled. "The di'kut.""Captain Vere knows how to be circumspect," Tack added with a nod. "He just usually follows his Commander's lead instead."That time Kuo gave in and groaned. "That's the problem."The laughter picked back up again, and Kuo debated leaving.Ink opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then shut it again.Orca and Waves, the two Corries closest to him, watched him closely. "Me'vaar ti gar, Vod?" Tack prompted.Shaking his head, Ink cleared his throat. "Nothing, it's nothing. Just...""Just what?" Waves persisted."Just wondering. If CMO Kix is involved, and so are the Vs, what if..." Ink winced. "Nevermind."Ink had everyone's attention now, and was clearly regretting speaking up at all."What if what?" Kor pushed him to spit out whatever was bothering him.The demand got him another wince. "I-- I'm probably wrong. Forget it, Vod'e."Kuo knew they weren't going to do that. Not now."I don't want to upset anyone," Ink insisted. "Forget I said anything."Demir backed up his Corrie counterpart. "Too late for that," he said. "Tell us.""Spill it," Fixer joined in the growing chorus of concerned voices."We'll make sure nothing bad happens to anyone here," Leure tried to reassure him.Ink's expression was pained. "I'm pretty sure that saying it out loud will upset everyone more than staying quiet."That had the Corries exchanging looks and a few very subtle hand signs."Whisper it to Captain Kor or Captain Demir, then," Kuo suggested a way out of that tangled mess of emotions and expectations.Swallowing hard, Ink glanced back and forth between the pair of officers, and then winced again. "Alright. But promise me you won't freak out."Both officers nodded.Ink dithered for another few seconds, then reached out a hand to Kor, apparently deeming him the better choice. Kuo wasn't sure why, but as long as the verd'ike managed to navigate what seemed to be a very thorny emotional issue, it didn't much matter who Ink chose.Insistently, Ink gently disentangled himself from the ongoing cuddle pile and waited for his chosen Corrie to join him across the room, in a corner, and turned so that it would be difficult to read his lips.Protective, as most Vod'e were.Kor indulged him, and let himself be pulled in so Ink could speak in a tone low enough not to be overheard. As Ink spoke, Kuo watched Kor pale, close his eyes and shudder.All of the Corries came on point, seeing that, tense and worried about their Captain, now, as well as about Ink.Kor had to take a few slow measured breaths as Ink hugged him close, to calm himself down.Neither of them said anything until they were settled back in the pile of tangled limbs that all of the troopers were taking comfort from."Captain?" Swift verbally prompted him. "Tion gar jahaala.""I-- processing. Ink's theory is... " Kor winced. "Well, it's that our CMO might be involved in this harem, too."Kor's whole squad stared at him, stunned, for a long moment, then went pale and tense themselves."Oh kriff," Swift whispered."CMO Kix would never hurt him," Leure spoke up, wrapping himself around Waves as he did.Demir and Rogue did the same for Orca and Flange. "Nor would Jesse," Demir added. "Not willingly.""The Vs wouldn't either," Fixer spoke up. "Velvet is kriffing protective of his favourite medic."Tack swallowed hard and nodded. "That-- that's true. And Velvet is... he's good... at working with us.""It's just--" Naor said, his words muffled by the way he was burying his face in Myrdo's shirt, "--it's difficult not to remember--"His statement, unfinished though it was, had all of the Ghost and Wolfpack members wrapping themselves protectively around their nearest Corrie neighbours and doing their best to calm them back down."See, this is what I was afraid would happen," Ink bitched quietly as he ran his hands soothingly over Flange's scalp. "It's a topic that's easier for you all to talk about in the abstract than when it involves one of yours.""Gotta get used to it at some point," Kor answered, voice tight and expression as blank as he could make it.The reminder of just how much the Corries had suffered -- Kuo knew kriffing well that he didn't know even a fraction of what they'd gone through -- was enough to sting, and he had to get up and pace. The Corries would calm faster and more fully if he wasn't in the room. Unhappy about it, wanting to hug at least one of them himself, Kuo shook his head to clear it a bit. "Anyway, back to the topic. You're all doing alright?""We're managing fine, this latest minor upset aside," Demir reassured him.Minor upset. They considered this a kriffing minor upset. Kuo wanted very badly to blow something up.Demir eyed him warily. "Are you?"The question caught Kuo off guard. "I'm fine, verd'ika. I'm--" He let the sentence cut off there."--annoyed about having to field Commander Cody's calls for him," Fixer finished for him with a knowing smirk on his lips."The di'kut is going to drive me entirely insane." All of the verd'ike had already heard about how Cody had landed himself in the Healing Halls for a whole rotation, so all Kuo got in response to his complaint was a few strained snickers and tiny smirks."He should kriffing know better than to dump all of his responsibilities in my lap, by now," Kuo bitched further, willingly jumping on the excuse Fixer had offered him. "Especially when he's doing it just so he can go get laid, for kriff's sake."Kriff, if he ever met the being who'd tormented these Corries, he'd--No, think about something else.The more he let himself get wound up and angry, the more the Corries would get upset and frightened, themselves. They'd shut down and shove their emotions away rather than dealing with them, because -- even now -- the threat he represented to them as a non-trooper would outweigh having their Vod'e with them. He'd seen that reaction from them over and over again.Manda take it.Grumbling wordlessly under his breath, Kuo stood and turned to leave. "Let me know if you need anything I can help with," he told them. "I'm going to go try to wring some more intel out of the medics about when I can drop the alor's work back in his lap."-- --- POV: ARC Trooper Sinker ---Sinker woke up the next morning feeling… shockingly good, all things considered.He’d ended up biting so many people yesterday. Each time it had gone well, he'd felt a little less anxious about it. The Corries had outright adored him for being able to instantly dole out what Master Che said amounted to a muscle relaxant on command. When he'd put his mind to it, and really wanted them to rest and relax, the biting had seemed to work like an anti-anxiety medication, too. So far, there weren’t really any terrible side effects, either!… So far.Sinker was afraid to get his hopes up too far.At the very least, he felt weirdly good about everyone having his bite marks on them.He was a Wolfpack ARC. He was well versed in the intimacies of a bite shared between Vod’e. His new satisfaction with seeing people he cared about marked as his was… a little concerning.Not that it overwhelmed the satisfaction he got out of it.Kriff, their blood tasted good, too.He was incredibly relieved that he didn’t feel the need to go draining anyone dry. Splint had offered to keep an eye on him, regardless, so that was good.Meanwhile, Sinker had woken up three Vod’e deep in a cuddle pile. Everyone smelled content.
Force, this is the life.
After hours of biting and testing last night, Master Che and Splint had left to go analyse data. From the pleased and relaxed look about them as they went, Sinker was hopeful that they were that much closer to getting to the bottom of all of this osik.“Morning already?” Regor grumbled into Sinker’s chest.“No.” Boost snuggled farther into Regor’s side.“Close enough,” Wolffe said with a yawn, stretching out behind Regor.Wolffe’s profoundly altered state of mind post-bite hadn’t lasted more than a couple hours. The same was true for the rest of the Vod’e bitten. Yet another thing to be thankful for.From the looks of things, Breaker was taking his turn sitting guard out in the hall. Drift had been the one absent when Sinker had finally wound down enough to try to sleep last night and now he was sprawled across Tux and Sinker in equal measure; they must have switched out who was keeping watch sometime in the night.Hound and Shadow were both still out cold, cozied up to Tux. Both of them had requested a quick bite before sleeping, and both had passed out with gratifying alacrity.
Whatever the kriff is changed about me can’t be that bad, if I can help them find some peace.
A soft glow of pleasure warmed Sinker’s chest. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.It came out as a low purr.He froze in startlement.“No, keep doin’ it,” Drift muttered, half-asleep still. “Sounds nice. I like it.” He gave Sinker a one-armed squeeze.Tux shook with silent snickers. The scent in the air turned amused.“You’ll never get rid of him now, Vod,” Regor said. “You’re too much like a tooka.”“At least you don’t smell like one,” Wolffe said with disgust.That caused another round of quiet snickers and one sleepy grunt of protest.Since none of them had anywhere to be, they took their time waking up.Sometime after firstmeal, Splint came in with the latest updates.“Lots of good news today, Vod’e,” Splint said as he caught up on the scanned readings that were taken during the night. “First, we’re fairly sure at this point none of you are contagious.”A cheer went up in the room. Sinker was not at all ashamed to note that he, Regor, and Boost had cheered the loudest.After a moment, Splint held up a hand, asking them for quiet. “Right. We’re thinking maybe one more day in the Halls for observation and then you’ll be allowed to leave, so long as you come in for daily check ups and you don’t do any more karking stupid banthashit.”Sinker didn’t even care that Splint was glaring at them. He was too busy hugging Boost.“Freedom,” Boost whispered with glee.Sinker grinned back at him.“Second,” Splint said with a sigh, obviously moving on since he wasn’t getting any traction with the threats, “after all that testing yesterday, and after working with the V’s some more, we’re fairly sure that we’ve got a handle on all of the changes you all have undergone.” His face turned serious. “They are permanent, as far as we can tell. I’m sorry, Vod’e.”That put a small damper on the mood, but only a bit. At this point, Sinker hadn’t really expected anything else.“Later today, we’ll be kicking out all your hangers-on so that we can have a group meeting with Master Che, Tranq, Carver, and the V’s. We’ll be covering everything we’ve learned and what you can expect in the future from your altered physiology. After that, you’ll be meeting up with General Buir. He’s offered to help with the mental training for you, Sinker, though I think he wants all three of you there for it.”“Oh Force, thank you,” Sinker whispered as he slumped into Boost. General Buir would know how to help them and do his best to make sure they were taken care of. That was a fact.The rest of the morning went smoothly. Though Sinker was sad to see the Corries and Wolffe go, he had to admit that he was looking forward to some resolution to this whole clusterkriff.Wearing something more substantial than medic gowns and sleep clothes for the first time in days was a bonus, too. Casual clothes weren’t like his armor, but he’d take what he could get.He was an ARC trooper; he needed to go move.It was obvious that Boost and Regor were feeling the same way. They were fidgety, so much so that Splint actually laughed at them and suggested a visit to one of the exercise centers in the Halls that afternoon. The medics apparently wanted to monitor them during physical activity.Whatever. As long as it meant doing something other than stressing out.He took the lead as they all headed out of their room for the first time in days. Normally, he wouldn’t really bother with making sure to be in front. Now, it seemed natural for him to take the brunt of any new situation for his Vod’e.Which meant that he was the first one of their little group to get into the meeting room where Master Che, the other involved medics, and the V’s were waiting.Something clicked in Sinker’s brain. Whether it was sight or smell or something else, he couldn’t say. Whatever it was, the moment he saw Velvet, he came to an abrupt halt and bared his teeth in a snarl.
Something Other! Rival, predator, teeth, sharp!
Sinker’s snarl was echoed in Velvet, who was showing off a very impressive set of fangs.
Wait, what the kriff?
Sinker took a step backward, shaking his head in confusion as he did so. This, incidentally ran him right into Boost and Regor, who were both looking at him like he’d lost his karking mind.From the look on Velvet’s face, he was going through a similar mental journey.That’s my Vod, Sinker thought with bafflement.Master Che watched them both with calm interest, while CMOs Carver, Kix, and Tranq looked ready to hypo someone. Who, was anyone’s guess.“The kriff?” Velvet asked. Vector and Vere had stepped up to stand snugly behind him, offering wordless support as well as impressively confused expressions.“Right?!” Sinker grimaced and shook his head again.Almost on instinct, he took a deep breath.There. That was the thing that had set him off. Velvet’s scent was… weird.… But good? That was his Vod. They were friends. He knew that. Well enough that the sharp new predatory tang to the air was obliterated by the knowledge that they were…… They were…What were they?Vod’e, obviously. But not pack like Boost and Regor were.Leading with his nose, Sinker stepped forward to investigate.Velvet met him halfway, moving in almost like he was planning on laying a wet kiss on him.They both stopped no more than an inch short of each other.“You smell…” Velvet’s voice trailed off.“Yeah,” Sinker said. There was something about Velvet’s scent.Something good, now that he was close enough to get a read on it. The tension flowed out of him like water trickling down a drain.“Vod,” Sinker said, though that word wasn’t quite right.“Yeah.” Velvet smiled at him; his fangs were still present, though not nearly as threatening as they’d been a moment ago.Velvet leaned in and affectionately bumped his shoulders against Sinker’s.Sinker let out a happy grumble and pulled Velvet in for a hug. He could tell without really looking that Boost and Regor had stepped closer behind him. That was fine. They were all safe here.“That’s weird,” Regor said.“Agreed,” Boost’s implied what the kriff was as audible as his steady heartbeat.“We should sit together,” Sinker said, still holding on to Velvet.Velvet nodded. “Yup. Let’s get chairs and listen to the debrief, and then cuddle.”Vere and Vector exchanged a look and then both shrugged.A minute or two of shuffling later and everyone was seated around the meeting table. Sinker had his chair as close to Velvet’s as he could get it, that way he could half drape himself over his Vod.“I think it’s a scent thing,” Velvet said once they were all settled.Sinker hummed in agreement. “You’re not…” He grimaced. “Alright, look, I know how this is going to sound, but you’re not mine.”Velvet snickered. “And you’re not mine, but we’re the same… uh…”“Colony?” Carver offered.That was one word for it, Sinker supposed.“That implies that if you encountered others of your variant that you didn’t share a ‘colony’ with, then the reactions would be aggressive,” Splint said, settling into his seat next to Tranq.“Seems likely,” Master Che said, right as Velvet was sputtering objections. “The sharing of scents among different group members is a social thing for many species.”Sinker considered how Velvet was currently rubbing his face against Sinker’s shoulder. The next inevitable thought was that Sinker was very, very alright with Velvet doing that.Maybe not all the time. But right now…?“Huh,” Sinker said.“You are so weird now,” Boost said with a poke to Sinker’s side.Sinker stuck out his tongue at Boost. “Says the Vod with eggs.”Boost made offended noises while Regor snickered.Master Che’s lekku twitched with amusement. “Which does bring us to the relevant subject at hand. There’s still a lot we don’t know, and Master Windu and others are still working on the artefact that caused this whole mess, but for now we have a fair idea of what to expect from you all for the moment.”The most of the next hour was spent with the various medics giving them all a full debrief on everything they’d learned.Their ‘mutations’, for lack of a better term, were stable. They weren’t contagious. They were likely stuck like this forever. Surgery would be able to revert some of the changes, if they wanted, but there would be risks. They’d never be exactly like they used to be.They could, most likely, actually produce viable children with just one triad.That alone made Sinker boggle. Karking kids. Little cadets. He wasn’t sure he was ready to be a buir.The exact details of how that would work with the eggs were still an unknown; the medics had theories. Until someone actually did it, they wouldn’t know for sure.“You actually laid your eggs?” Boost asked Vere with quiet horror.The smug, shit-eating smirk that Vere gave Boost was more than a bit concerning. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”“It’s really good,” Vector assured Regor, who was looking a bit green in the face.“Do not want,” Regor said with a grimace.Vere and Vector both shrugged.Sinker was with Regor and Boost. He loved his pack. He didn’t want to kriff them.Master Che went into more detail than Sinker ever wanted to know about how that whole process worked. He sat through it stoically. This would be important to his Vod’e. He had to know, if only to help them through whatever craziness their bodies would throw at them.Which brought them around to the biting thing.The ridiculous reaction for those bitten was part weird Force nonsense, part creepy venom, and part pheromone reaction, and a kriff load of it depended on how Sinker was feeling about the bite when it happened. Or how Velvet was, as the case might be.“As far as we can tell,” Master Che explained, “when you bite other members of your triad, there is a partial immunity to the venom as well as an uptick in metabolic rate. The hunger you may experience increases egg production. Based on our readings, I’m guessing that there would be other beneficial effects for the egg carrier, if they were bitten while currently holding a clutch.”“Oh kark,” Sinker said with a wince.Boost grabbed his middle, looking wide-eyed and halfway to crying. “Egg production?!”“Your extra calorie consumption yesterday went to creating a sixth egg inside of you,” Splint said apologetically. “Sorry.”Boost covered his face with his hands. Sinker immediately moved to give him a hug on one side, while Regor did the same on the other.“Another side effect of the biting among triad members is an increase in oxytocin,” Master Che continued. “It will make you want to cuddle more. And we suspect that, if bitten while currently carrying fertilized eggs, it may prompt some type of lactation.”That news went over like a thrown brick.“This sucks and I hate it,” Regor moaned into Boost’s shoulder.Boost and Sinker just clung to each other with wordless horror.It wasn’t… awful. Just… also sort of awful. Leaking fluids everywhere. Yuck.The Vs seemed to be taking it a bit better.“Not really my kink, you know?” Vector said with a mild twist of his lips.“If you ever wanna try it, we can figure it out,” Vere said with a shrug. Velvet just hummed, almost speculatively.“You misunderstand,” Master Che said after a moment. “Given the hormone levels, I suspect that the lactation would occur in both the egg layer and the egg carrier.”“Given the average clutch size of five eggs, that would make sense,” Tranq said, sounding far too philosophical for any of this nonsense.All of the medics were taking notes.Before Boost could do more than groan with upset, Master Che quickly added, “Again. That likely won’t happen unless there are actual fertilized eggs present. Which, I think, everyone in the triad would be able to scent.”“I feel like Sinker is getting off easy in this,” Regor grumbled.“Excuse you, but I have to drink karking blood every day now,” Sinker snapped back.Velvet let out something close to a purr and looked very, very smug. For whatever reason, CMO Carver turned a little pink and looked very intently at his datapad.Sinker narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between the two. Wait, hadn’t someone said that Velvet had bitten Carver some crazy number of times?Whatever. That was so resolutely not his business that it was in another sector of space.The medics took turns relaying more detailed information to all of them about the exact nature of the changes, effects to sight and sense of smell, and a few warnings about potentially new instinctive behaviors.Case in point, the weird sniffing when Sinker and Velvet had first seen each other.“Your battalion medic, or someone assigned by them, will be keeping a close eye on you once you leave the Halls,” Master Che said. “You’ll all need to come back to the Halls every day for a while so that we can keep an eye on your hormonal levels as well as a few other things, like egg production and appetite.”“If you need help with the laying thing, let us know,” Vere said to Boost. “We’re willing to help out.”Boost shivered and nodded. “Vor’e.”“Meanwhile, Master Koon and Master Kenobi have volunteered to begin teaching you all basic meditation techniques to help with mental control. Sinker, Velvet, you both will have additional lessons, likely every day at first and then at Master Koon and Master Kenobi’s discretion.” She pursed her lips for a moment. “Since the Wolfpack is already assigned to Master Koon, it should be easy enough to coordinate training times with him. For you 212th Vod’e, Master Kenobi has volunteered to return to Mandalore with you for an indeterminate amount of time, likely in the realm of six to eight months, while you learn control, Velvet.”“Back to flash training, I guess,” Vere said ruefully.“It won’t be that bad,” Tranq assured him.“At least Cody will be thrilled to have his jetii with us again,” Vector said with a shrug.“I’m sending you all a copy of your medical results,” Master Che said. “Your battalion medics will have that information on file as well.”“Why do we need that?” Regor asked.“Because it’s your body and you get to have a record of everything that’s going on with it,” CMO Carver said, tone acidic.“And it may be useful if you’re ever on leave and something comes up when you’re not near a battalion medic,” Splint added with dry amusement.Several of them scoffed at that. How likely would that be?“For now, you are free to return to your barracks,” Master Che said. “Speak with your CMOs to figure out how you’ll be doing the monitoring while outside of the Halls. Sinker and Velvet, I’m considering just giving you a supply of blood to keep with your other foodstuffs. Let your CMOs know what would be most convenient, and in the meantime you are welcome to return to the Halls for a drink.”Great. Another thing to manage. Sinker made a face.Velvet was too busy leering at CMO Carver.“No biting anyone without medic supervision,” Master Che said. “And no attempting to Force trick anyone with the bite until you are trained. Master Kenobi let me know that he will be free after latemeal tonight to begin your first lesson, and I think Master Koon said that he would be free at your convenience, Sinker.”“Meanwhile, you should maybe contact your squads,” Splint said to them.Oh kark, the squad.They were probably panicked as kriff.“Kriff,” Boost said.“Commander Wolffe would have talked to them, right?” Regor didn’t sound sure.“Yes, he is, and has been,” Splint assured them. “As has Commander Cody, and I think also Ver’alor Kuo. Both of your ARC teams have been in a near-constant cuddle pile with the Corrie ARCs.”Sinker blinked in surprise at that. Then he thought of Drift and Tux and their squad, and it made more sense. “They’re worried for us.”“And we all know what this kind of banthashit is like,” CMO Carver said with a shrug. “We knew that you all would need support. It’s nice to be able to give it.”Sinker hadn’t thought of that, that the Corries might get just as much out of being able to help as the ones they were helping.“Ner cabur,” Velvet said with dewy eyes.“Not the time,” Tranq said. He waved his datapad threateningly, like he was about to toss it at Velvet’s head.CMO Carver just turned even brighter pink and crossed his arms.They spent a few more minutes asking questions and hammering out a few more details, and then Sinker found himself… free. For the first time in a week. Had it been a week already?“You three want to cuddle?” Vere asked.“I think I want to go shoot things,” Regor said. “Then maybe shower and cuddle,” he admitted.“Let’s go find our squads and do that,” Sinker suggested.“You all have fun with that,” CMO Carver said as he checked his comm. “It seems the Guard ARCs may have some questions of their own for me.”“That sounds ominous,” Boost said.CMO Carver snorted and then shrugged. “We’ll see, I suppose.”“Come find us afterwards,” Velvet said. “You’re always welcome in the cuddle pile.”“Or for other things,” Vector said with a grin.“Other very fun things,” Vere added, looking Carver up and down like he was something delicious to eat.CMO Carver outright stammered nonsense, and then beat a hasty retreat.Sinker was left staring at the empty doorway he fled through, blinking in surprise.“I think Flutter may kill you,” Splint said conversationally.Tranq grinned. “I guess we’ll find out.”The Vs didn’t look all that deterred.“You are all crazy,” Sinker said. Force. What the kriff was wrong with them?“I blame your commander,” Boost said for the millionth time.“Blame, or credit?” Velvet winked at him.Tranq cackled as he pushed them all out of the meeting room.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: CMO Carver ---What a day.Carver ran his fingers through his hair as he prepared to hunt down his ARCs. Everyone else in their little meeting had already split off to do their own preparations. The Vs and Regor’s group were back in their rooms collecting their clothing and gear and going about getting discharged, with Tranq and Splint’s help. Kix had already sent Jesse off to go round up the various extended ARC teams from the battalions in question; rumor had it they were all piled together. Master Che had other duties to attend to.Which gave Carver time to go find Captain Kor and the rest of his dini’la troopers.
Not that they are any crazier than I am. After all, which of us let a fanged Vod bite them all night, got drugged because of it, and then found themselves in a harem.
He stared wide-eyed into nothing as he contemplated that.He wasn’t even in the harem. They were his harem.Carver had a lot of feelings about that. He wasn’t sure what many of them were aside from, yes, please and also, what the kark.Regardless.Vector and Jesse had already spilled the gossip among their squadmates, which meant that it would be halfway across the galaxy by now. Even though he knew that they hadn’t yet mentioned him by name, it was only a matter of time before some smart Vod put two and two together and got dicks everywhere.Carver very abruptly closed his eyes and shoved the heel of his hand into his forehead as he tried not to dwell on how very nice his shower had been that morning. Now wasn’t the time to think on that.Arousal warred with confusion and low-grade anxiety. That old phobia coming back to bite him now that no one was actively hugging him.
Deep breaths, CMO. You can do this.
He forced himself to both look and act calm. Time to go find Flutter, and then Kor.Flutter was lurking just down the hall from where the Vs were being discharged, giving them all a murder glare. Carver couldn’t tell if the Vs genuinely didn’t see him or if they were just too pleased with their escape to let the glaring bother them.“Come on,” Carver said, dragging Flutter down an adjoining hallway. “You can menace them later.”Flutter didn’t even look at him, though he did allow himself to be hauled away. “Do they need to be menaced? Because the way the comm chatter is going, I feel like I might need to make my displeasure known in a more tangible way.”Carver sighed.“It’s fine.” Probably. Mostly. Holy kriff, he had a harem.“Uh huh.” Fluttered finally turned to Carver, likely just so he could show off how unimpressed he was with Carver’s response.“It’s midmeal time,” Carver said, sort of changing the subject. “I’m feeling like we need to go do some damage control with the ARCs.”“We.” The judgy eyebrow was very evident on Flutter’s face, but at least he was walking with Carver now instead of acting like dead weight.“Unless you have something more pressing to attend to,” Carver said, calling Flutter’s bluff.“Oh no! No. Please. I’d love to hear this explanation,” Flutter scoffed. “Go ahead. Tell me why it’s unreasonable that our ARCs are half-panicked because of another possible unfortunate situation involving their CMO.”“It’s not that bad.” Carver felt his face go hot. He must be as red as his armor.“Uh huh. Whatever. Save it for midmeal.” Flutter immediately pulled out his comm and started typing. “I’ll get the ARCs and send a message to the CCs. I’ve already got messages from the whole command chain asking for details. Minus Fox. I think he’s still doing spooky Force osik with his master and that artefact.”“Comm him anyways.”“Duh.”They walked in silence for a while until arriving at the refectory that Carver tended to favor. The food was simple and good, and it was close to the Halls.“Get it to go,” Flutter said, not looking up from his comm. “We’re meeting up in one of the Guard rec rooms in our barracks. There are enough of us that want to know what’s going on.”It went without saying that no one wanted to have that kind of a personal conversation in a public refectory. They all would feel better with a locked door between them and the galaxy.Carver and Flutter acquired their food with a minimum of difficulty. As they were walking out, they were joined by Commander Thire.“Thorn is taking over the day shift for me,” Thire said quietly as he walked next to them. “Stone is still asleep after his late shift last night. Fox should be joining us for a little bit later.”That was about when it hit Carver why Thire was the one making it a point to be here. His own experience during the war had likely given him some… bad associations with the word ‘harem’, and Carver damn well knew that his… his lovers? His lovers. His lovers weren’t being shy about using that term.Carver felt his eyes go wide again as he was struck over the head all over again by how weird this situation was. He wanted to go bury his head in a pillow. Or maybe Velvet’s thighs.
No. That is not what I’m thinking about right now. No, no, no, no, no.
Thire let out a thoughtful noise. “Well, well. This should be interesting.”Then with a slight bump into Carver’s shoulder and a turn of his head, he asked in the Guard’s silent language, Everything alright?Carver lowered his eyes and blinked, quick. Then he nodded for good measure. “Yes. Fine. Just… weird. Good weird? I think? I’m…” He let out an exasperated breath, which turned into him turning his head to stretch his neck out. Kriff, he was still so anxious and tense. He wouldn’t even have noticed how worked up he was if it weren’t for that blissful night and day of zero kriffs to give.Or all the kriffs to give, as the case happened to be, he thought with a stunned sort of amusement.“He been like this a while?” Thire asked Flutter.“Yes, and it’s disgusting.”Carver gave Flutter the best bitchface he could.Flutter was completely unmoved. Because of course he was. All of the Guard medics had become immune to Carver’s grumping almost immediately upon joining the battalion.The Guard ARCs were already waiting for them in the appointed barrack’s rec room. The tables and various other furniture had already been shoved aside in favor of floor mattresses and pillows.“I am eating before we cuddle,” Carver said, perhaps with too much of a snarl. He knew that the clearly-impending cuddle pile was as much for his benefit as it was theirs. That didn’t make him feel any less petulant about it. He was a grown kriffing Vod, he didn’t need to be coddled.…Except that the clawing, ever-present, low-grade panic in the back of his skull claimed otherwise.“He sounds fine to me?” Orca said from his lounging spot in the near-middle of the pillow pile.“That’s good,” Kor said with a nod.“At the very least, he hasn’t lost the rights to his Name yet,” Flutter said with a snort.“Don’t think you’re the only one here who stabs people,” Carver said warningly.“I love you too, Vod.” Flutter’s smirk was smug.This was a losing battle and Carver knew it.With a laugh and a hand on Carver’s shoulder, Thire led him over to the group.A few more Vod’e joined in before the bar on the door was thrown. Buttercup came last, clearly just escaping from his own shift in the Halls.“Tell me what you’ve heard,” Carver said as he settled down to eat.The ARCs shared a shifty look. There were a lot of tight expressions and hunched shoulders.“Verifiable facts are that the ARCs you’ve been tending are bragging about being in a harem,” Thire said with admirable equanimity. “The implication and rumor is that you’re involved.”A shudder rippled through the room.Carver would have joined them in that reaction, except he was far too busy thinking of Vector and Vere behind him on either side with Velvet in front of him, and Kix and Jesse watching with incredible amusement.He was brought back to reality by the sound of snickers.“Look at his face!” Grange said. “Oh, that can’t be bad.”“I’m impressed. And also a little scared,” Waves added.“So you are in this harem thing.” Thire looked far grimmer. For good reason.Carver’s face burned. He ducked his head and muttered, “It’s not like that.”“So tell us how it is,” Thire said, unhappy, “and do it quickly before we jump to all of the obvious and terrible conclusions we normally would when finding out that our CMO, one of our most critical support staff Vod’e, has been caught up in some kind of sex ring.” He wasn’t even pretending to eat his meal. His arms were crossed and hurt welled up in his eyes.Osik.Carver really had put his foot in it, hadn’t he? He should have let Flutter know more of the details so he could spread it to the rest of the Guard.“N’eparavu takisit, al’verde,” Carver said contritely. “I should have let you all know that… that everything was…” His mouth worked for a moment without sound coming out. He found himself feeling surprised, as if what he was saying was as much a revelation for himself as it might be for his Vod’e. “... It’s pretty great? Actually?”He was very confused about this. And that creeping dread was still looming in the background.Some of the ire went out of Thire’s posture. Some. “You don’t sound sure of that.”“I honestly don’t really know what to feel.” Carver stared at his plate. “They. Nothing happens that I don’t want.” He wanted to be very clear on that point to his Vod’e.A little bit of the tension fled the room. A few of the ARCs started picking at their midmeal.“We figured… well, we’d hoped that was the case,” Kor said, taking the lead for his team. “You kept Velvet around, after all, and didn’t mind when he kept showing up. He hasn’t been spreading anything too detailed around about what you two get up to.”“My cyare has a good opinion of him and his batchers, too,” Tack volunteered. “So, you know. We’d all hoped that they were just… having some fun.”“Albeit in a weird way,” Orca muttered under his breath. “A harem. Who wants to be in a harem?” Then he seemed to realize what he’d said. He blanched and looked at Carver. “Sorry, Vod, I’m not trying to-- to say anything about what you like. To each their own, you know? We’re just--”Tack shoved a hand right into Orca’s face, stemming the babbling apology. “We’re just worried and want to make sure that you aren’t reliving something that we all tried very hard to make sure never touched you.”Carver’s breath caught in his throat. His Vod’e. They’d done so much for him, back during the war. “I always tried my best for you all, you know that.”“’Lek,” Thire said softly. “We know.”Flutter leaned into Carver’s side in support.Carver winced. “...And, technically, I’m not in the harem. They’re my harem?”Again, Carver tried to make words and nothing came out. He just… Did not know what to say about that. He ended up doing something close to a shrug while also shaking his head. At the same time, he very much couldn’t stop thinking about all of his lovers together on a bed with him. Naked. Touching.
Kriff.
For lack of anything better to do and to stop any potential verbal mishaps, Carver went ahead and shoved some food in his mouth. Better to chew and blush than to embarrass himself further.There was a very long quiet moment as everyone in the room digested that.“... Wow,” Kor said finally.“Huh.” Flutter sounded more contemplative.“Really?” Waves asked.Carver glared at him for the implied impossibility. Like Carver of all people couldn’t get himself a team of dedicated lovers.What the kriff was he thinking. Waves was right.How the kriff had this even happened?“Shockingly, yeah,” Carver eventually said. “All five of them.”He was still stunned.“So Jesse and Kix are in on it too?” Kor asked. “Huh.”Kix was definitely in on it. So very, very in on it. Kriff.Carver legitimately didn’t know what to do with himself. So he focused on his meal.Happily, the room had settled quite a bit. Thire didn’t look ready to go murder someone and dump their body in a vent shaft anymore. Flutter only looked cranky. The ARCs and assistant medics had begun eating and lounging in earnest.“Are you happy?” Thire asked after a few minutes.“I honestly don’t know,” Carver said. “I’m happy with them. A little confused about why they’d bother. Force knows I’m not any fun to be around.”“Tell that to Velvet after he’s had a night with you,” Tack said dryly. “He’s been more than happy to talk you up.”That full body blush was back, burning right through Carver’s blacks. “I can’t be that good,” he mumbled, horrifically embarrassed at the whole subject at hand. “I just pay attention to what he likes. That’s what you’re supposed to do in bed.”Kor was giving him an approving look and half of his squad had shit-eating grins on their faces.“Awww, look at our CMO,” Rook said, sugar-sweet. “He’s all grown up and giving other ARCs a run for their credits.”“I’ll give you something to run from.” Carver bared his teeth in a snarl.“Oooo, maybe the Vs are into that,” Waves said with a bright smile.Tack snickered. “I think Velvet sure is.”Carver turned his glare on Tack. “Kriffing excuse you, but I am very nice to my partners!”“Never said you weren’t.” Tack shrugged, all easy going like.“So many partners,” Swift said with an impressed whistle. Then his gaze turned speculative. “All at once?”Carver stammered as words fled him again. A bit of gibberish came out before he finally managed, “N-not yet. At least, not more than three of them so far…”Laughter and tooka-calls filled the room and the tension went down another notch.As they were piling on the innuendo and while Carver tried to decide if he wanted to hide or snarl, there was a knock on the door. The pattern was Guard code.
Fox at the door. All clear.
It was a request for entry and acknowledgement that there was no one with Fox who may cause them all trouble.Thank kriff. Reinforcements. Carver grimaced. Probably.Buttercup went to let Fox in, and in only a minute or two, they were all settled again with the door firmly locked behind them.Fox curled up next to Thire, who cuddled into him with enthusiasm. The move looked like it was at least as much born of relief as it was habit. Seeing their commanders so at ease instinctively made Carver feel better too.He could tell that their closeness had the same effect on the ARCs; all of them had moved closer, even as they finished their meals. Most everyone was smiling, if only a little, and those that weren’t at least looked more relaxed.“Everything going alright?” Fox asked once they were all settled and properly comfortable.“Apparently?” Thire didn’t sound like he was very happy about this.“Theoretically?” Carver added. He was still befuddled by this whole mess.… Kind of pleased, too, though. Excited, maybe.There was a quiet warmth inside of him when he thought of his lovers. They wanted him. They wanted to be close to him. They'd said he could call on them at any time and they’d be there. Carver didn’t know what to do with that kind of wealth. He felt rich and unbelievably pampered.Kriff, and they hadn’t even really done anything.Fox was watching him with interest. “I see.”“Well, I don’t,” Carver bitched. “I don’t get why they’re alright with being at my beck and call. I don’t even know what they expect.”“I’m guessing sex,” Kor offered dryly.Carver tossed a rude gesture at him. “Not just that,” he said defensively. “They said they just like being around me.”He was karking baffled.“You say it like it’s a bad thing, being around you,” Waves pointed out.Carver flung his hands out. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to say, obviously, or I guess?, or who the kriff even knows?“They’re ARC troopers, Vod,” Flutter said as he poked Carver in the shoulder. “They aren’t scared off easily, and you’re one of the best people I know. You care, deeply and completely. You never stop fighting for the beings in your care. You aren’t a lost cause.” No matter how much you think you are, wasn’t said, merely implied.Tears unexpectedly prickled at Carver’s eyes. He looked down and took a breath.“It’s hard,” Fox said quietly, “to feel like we might be worth their regard. I know. Trust that they know what they’re doing, even if you can’t quite believe it for now. And keep talking to them. Let them in, let them know how you’re feeling. Either they’ll help, as they should, or they’ll piss off, at which point they weren’t worth your time anyways.”That was a solid point.Damn.“It’s hard,” Carver muttered.“The hardest thing in the galaxy,” Fox agreed. “It’s easier with practice.”That, Carver could believe.“You’d know,” Thire said. He’d managed a small smirk. “You and your riduur’e are ridiculous.”Fox snorted. “‘Ridiculous’ is the operant word, with them, in all things.”“Like commander, like ARCs, they say,” Kor said with a grin. “Have fun with that, Carver.”Carver’s face burned, but this time he was smiling a bit, too. “They’re really nice,” he admitted. “They make sure the door is always locked and they set out a guard to keep watch. They wait for me to let them know when I’m ready.” He was fairly sure that his damn phobia was a well-known secret, at this point. Even if it wasn’t, any Guard would know how difficult it would be to have relations with someone who wasn’t in their battalion.Kor made a thoughtful hmm.Tack had his own distant, smarmy smile on his face. Likely thinking of his own cyare, Knight Issador.“Good,” Fox said. Thire and several others nodded in agreement.“We’re glad,” Kor said. “Even if the whole… harem thing gave us a startle. That’s not really a good word.”“I didn’t pick it,” Carver said, holding up his hands as if to ward it off. “They all kind of decided they’d band together to jump me at any given opportunity. I’m so damn busy with my duties that I’m not sure they’ll even get much of a chance. They want to coordinate for long distance holo calls. They’re crazy.”That caused several more laughs and no few looks of commiseration.“That would solve the long distance problem pretty neatly,” Stars offered.“It really doesn’t,” Carver said, unamused. Security was an issue they needed to be aware of. “Though if they’re all on Mandalore, at least I’ll get some sleep once in a while.”
Though I won’t get on-demand cuddling.
“I’ll have Cody talk to them about discretion,” Fox said with a smirk.“Does he even know the meaning of the word?” Thire asked.“Jury is out.” Fox looked grim.That caused a host of cackles.A few minutes passed as they all finished up their meal.“You joining us for the cuddling, Commander?” Kor asked Fox.Fox shook his head. “I just stopped in to check on everyone. I think we’re almost to the bottom of whatever the kriff those ARCs dug out of the lower levels. I’m headed back to Master Windu after this to make sure that he’s eaten and to look through another archive index.”“And have you eaten?” Carver asked pointedly.Fox gave him a flat stare. “I had my meal plan smoothie at midmorning.”Carver knew that Fox was long since past needing those smoothies. He could handle solid meals three times a day now. He simply had a bad habit of skipping those meals, and the smoothies were easier for him to manage. Or easier for his Jedi master (or his lovers) to push on him. Carver approved.“Good,” Carver said. That was one less thing to worry about.They finished their meal shortly after that.Fox said his goodbyes, and Carver found himself squished between Flutter and Kor, with Thire draped over him.There was the customary moment of tension before relaxing into the cuddle pile, and then Carver felt like his bones were slowly melting out of him, he was so relaxed.He was safe, wrapped up in his fellow Guards. The door was locked. Their commander had cleared the way for them, and everything was safe.“You know, you can join the cuddling groups whenever you want,” Kor mentioned several minutes in. “We don’t see you there often.”Carver tried not to hunch up with anxiety.“If not them, then with me and Buttercup,” Flutter said.“And Curse and Fracture,” Buttercup said from somewhere close by, naming off a few of the other assistant medics. “We get it, you know?”Yeah. Carver knew. The medics sometimes had a hard time being close to their patients.“Just… after your--” Kor grimaced. “Your harem leaves, you have other options for cuddling, if you want.”Carver’s throat tightened up. In lieu of saying anything, he just squeezed Kor closer.My Vod’e, he thought with his heart near-bursting in his chest.They would all figure this whole mess out.And… maybe Carver might need to take the initiative a little bit, too. So far, so many people had reached out to him to show their support. At a certain point, isolation was self-inflicted. He didn’t have to be alone.That spawned another thought.Maybe he should invite his lovers to his rooms.He’d never had anyone over to his rooms before. They were his private space.… It might be nice to share that with them.He’d need to make some preparations, first.That thought kept him occupied for the rest of the afternoon.-- --- POV: Kuo'ran Wren ---"Really, alor?" Kuo tried to give the di'kut a quelling glare and failed. Off to his left, where she was leaning casually against the wall beside the door, Lun'dar snickered audibly at him.Cody just stared him down. "Really. My ARCs are still upset, and they need my help.""There are other Vod'e hugging them already." Kuo couldn't not try again. "They don't specifically need you."Rex shrugged, a little helplessly. "You'd think that, ver'alor, but they kind of do. It's... difficult to explain."Letting his head fall back until he could beg the ceiling silently for patience, Kuo took a deep breath and held it for a moment. "You both only just got out of the Halls last rotation. You can't just dump your responsibilities back on me."Lun'dar managed to speak without sounding like she was laughing. Much. "You sure about that ver'alor?"His alor actually looked a little bit apologetic about it, for a beat, before he squared his shoulders. "Just ignore anything that isn't time-sensitive," he suggested, as though that wouldn't get the entire Council angry at them both. "I highly doubt the sector will implode if we're out of contact for a few more rotations."Groaning, pained, Kuo reminded him, "They'll do their best to make us both regret it, alor.""Aliit comes first," Cody said simply, as he turned to leave the room. "If they fail to understand that, I'll remind them."Rex turned smoothly, in synch with his riduur, and, muttering imprecations under his breath, Kuo followed. Lun'dar fell in next to him silently, but he could tell she was still laughing at his expense.The thing was, Cody wasn't wrong. Frankly, Kuo agreed with him. But the Council wouldn't all see things the same way. The Evaar'ad'e were especially stubborn about it.They attracted a minimum of attention as they made their way through the hallways of the Temple. Everyone living in the massive building was used to seeing the four of them together, meantime. It had become a common sight over the course of the last few years. Kuo was kind of glad about that. Not only because he had an alor he could support without much qualm, but also because that acceptance of him and his verd'e meant a lot to him. He was all too aware of the osik he and his two companies had taken part in or tacitly supported during their many years as part of Kyr'tsad.On the other hand, that acceptance definitely came with a lot of different shenanigans that tested him -- usually in unexpected and new stressful ways -- to his limits.Over their private comms, Lun'dar asked, "Tion gar jahaala, ver'alor?"Kuo didn't bother answering verbally. He just signed a quick situation kriffed back at her.This latest insanity that Cody's favoured ori'ramikad'e had gotten into was a good example. What the actual kriff they'd done, no one knew. And the six ARCs who'd gotten hit by whatever it was didn't remember anything about the event. And now that they were finally free of the Halls, Kuo knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would be scooped up by their respective squads and cuddled until they couldn't stand staying still anymore.Maybe even longer than that.Lun'dar kept snickering at him. "Maybe it is," she agreed, "but no one died, and whatever it is that happened doesn't seem to have had any kind of horrible effects. Sure, the medics and their Vod'e freaked out a bit, but that's normal when a close aliit member unexpectedly ends up in medical."Kuo made a face at his comm, glad he'd accepted it audio-only. "True, but you know what kind of Force osik follows the alor around. Apparently, it also applies to his ori'ramikad'e. Whatever happened, it's bound to be something crazy.""Well," Lun'dar told him, "we'll probably find out what it was, soon."She wasn't wrong. They were already almost at the entrance to the healing halls. The rest of the ARCs were standing together in a tight, stressed knot of plastoid in orange and grey accents, supporting each other as they waited for their missing squadmates to be released. Kuo had no doubt that, once the squad was complete again, he and Lun'dar would end up following the Ghosts and the alor to the barracks Ghost Company occupied whenever they were visiting the Temple.Mostly because Kuo had no intention of letting the alor out of his sight until they left the Temple.Sure, it was a safe place, but there was plenty of trouble that Cody and his Vod'e could find, even here, if left to their own devices. And, sure, trailing around behind the alor was sure to leave them both annoyed and frustrated. Not to mention that it also probably wasn't a foolproof way to keep the alor out of trouble.But it would reduce the number of opportunities for the di'kut to do something crazy. Like get himself restricted to the halls because he broke quarantine to go kriff his ARC.The alor, naturally, waded into the knot of ARC troopers without hesitation, leaving his riduur to watch his back. Kuo and Lun'dar, knowing that they were still considered 'other', even by the Vod'e who knew them well, stood back, waiting with Rex, rather than push their luck and distress the ARC troopers more than they were already.Also predictably, the alor's ori'ramikad'e didn't hesitate to haul him into their arms. Cody allowed it with grace, reaching out to hug one vod, and then pulling the next into a mirshmure'cya. A third got squished between Cody and another ARC.Before Cody could get to the others, the six ARCs who'd been stuck in the halls for a week finally appeared, and joined in the hug without hesitation. The level of emotion in the hallway jumped, and Kuo couldn't help feeling almost as relieved as the verd'ike that their squadmates were alright."Let's take this to the barracks," Rex suggested after a few seconds. "You all look like you need a good cuddle.""That sounds good to me," Velvet said, his words a little bit muffled by the group hug he'd been pointedly hauled into. Kuo wasn't sure, but it kind of looked like Velvet was sniffing at his Vod'e. As though he was suddenly part-tooka.Sinker shook his head. "I need to move. Shoot things. I've been sitting around for a week and-- ugh.""Then that's what we'll do," Captain Demir reassured his trooper, jumping in when words failed him.Commander Wolffe, popping up next to Kuo and nearly making him jump out of his skin, stepped forward and hauled Boost in close. "We'll shoot things and then talk. There are some very important things to discuss once you've worked out some of your energy."Captain Demir nodded. "We'd suspected as much," he said simply. "We'll go run some drills and then be together."Boost winced. "Just... promise us you won't freak out in the 'freshers afterwards."Captain Demir scoffed. "We won't. At least not much. I'm pretty sure whatever happened to you is less weird than the rumours we've heard."With a pained sigh and another wince, Boost gave in. "Guess we'll see."Like a graceful flock of avians, the Wolfpack ARCs herded their newly released fellows away from the halls and toward the salles, one of which had been converted into a shooting range.The Vs appeared to be content to just hug and be hugged, though. "We can shoot things later," Captain Vere decided. "For now, let's get reacquainted. We have a few things to talk about, too."Cody nodded, "Sounds like a plan. K'olar, Vod'e."Mentally bracing himself to find out what kriffing insanity had happened to cause all of this chaos -- because that was the most likely topic of discussion, and he knew damned well it would involve sex in some way -- Kuo followed, Lun'dar at his side. He could tell she was mentally preparing a bowl of popped grains.Shaking his head at her, Kuo tried not to let his irritation get too obvious.He more or less succeeded, thankfully. The verd'ike gave him a few glances that spoke volumes about how much they suspected he was just waiting to lecture them -- Kuo knew better than to try; he'd fail -- but none of them tried to interrogate him.Once they'd reached their barracks, the news that the Vs were on their feet and mostly fine spread outward like a physical ripple. Kuo saw the way the rest of the Ghosts watched the trio carefully before nodding and leaving them to reunite with their squad properly. Lieutenant Waxer stepped over to offer Captain Vere a quick squeeze of a hug and whisper something to him, before he let go again and retreated.The ARC squad, clearly still fussing, allowed the move with grace, but grouped back up around their leader as soon as they could.Interestingly, probably because they were very aware that the rest of the Company also needed the reassurance of knowing that they were alright and back with their Vod'e, the squad of ARC troopers settled on their common room floor, scavenging cushions and a couple of mattresses to pad the floor with.Kuo took the opportunity to snag a seat on one of the now-bare sofa seats. Lun'dar followed his example. Cody and Rex joined the ARC troopers. Others of Ghost's officers quickly filled out most of the available seats. A scattering of others among the ARC squad's close Vod'e squeezed in next to them.Gradually the room quieted until Kuo swore he could have heard a grain of sand fall to ping off his armour.Leure broke the silence. "What the kriff," he asked conversationally. "A harem, Vod'e?"Cinder and Rous, both crammed in tightly next to him, snickered loudly.Velvet just looked smug as a tooka who'd successfully raided the crisper. "Totally worth it," he answered with a very obvious leer.Cody snorted. "Finally got yourself your CMO, did you?"Velvet's smug expression went dreamy. "Two of them," he answered.That got him awed expressions from the whole room."Two?" Waxer sounded impressed. "You're braver than I thought.""Right? That's just karking ambitious," Lex agreed."We've had no complaints so far," Vere said, looking very pleased with himself and his two di'kut'e."How was it?" Fixer wanted to know.Aaaaand now he was going to have to endure the sex gossip. Kuo sighed. "Do us a favour, verd'ika, and don't give us details," he interjected hastily, doing his best to hide his desire to be elsewhere.That got him snickers out of everyone present, including his second."You could always leave," Cody pointed out."Not a chance. Not before you've shared that important news." Kuo did his best to sound firm. Resolute. He wasn't sure he'd succeeded though.Cody considered him for a moment, then gave him a look that made him wonder if he'd karked up. "You'll hate it," he said bluntly.Gritting his teeth, Kuo took a breath through them, then forced himself calm and relaxed his jaw. "Maybe I will, but I'm pretty sure it's got to do with whatever landed your ARCs in the halls to begin with, and if there are lingering medical issues, it might well be important for us to help keep an eye on the situation."Captain Vere caught his eyes, and then smirked. "You asked for it. But I'll start with the least weird one first. Velvet has some weird new instincts and fangs." He paused just for a moment and Velvet showed them off, along with eyes that seemed to glow red.Kuo shoved down a shiver of fear. "What.""Sith hells," Ink swore. "That's kind of terrifying?"Velvet immediately cuddled him close, slithering across two of his Vod'e to do it. "I won't hurt you, Vod," he said, an undertone of something other in his voice. It was almost hypnotic.Ink gulped, but gradually relaxed. "Good," he said weakly."You're my Vod," Velvet repeated, not letting go and nuzzling into the curve of muscle between neck and shoulder instead. "Mine. You're not in any danger from me."There was a beat of silence after that.The show of possessive, almost feral, behaviour had caught almost everyone off guard. Only Vere and Vector were completely at ease with it."What the kriff," Kuo muttered."It goes with the other modifications he got," Vector spoke up, reaching over to scratch gently at Velvet's scalp, and getting an honest to kriff purr out of him.That resulted in a good amount of cooing and delight."Oh Force," Fixer breathed. “Don't let Drift find out he can do that. You'll never pry him off Velvet."Ink snickered. "I doubt Velvet would mind too much.”"Fox would," Rex put in. "He's possessive of his troopers. Especially the shinies."Velvet just smiled, the expression bordering on beatific, and leaned into the touches he was gifted, his purring only getting louder as the touches continued.It took the assembled Vod'e a few minutes to get tired of the novelty.Once the room had come back on point, Vere went on. "We don't know how often or how much, yet, but Velvet has to eat a lot more meat and also drink some blood to supplement it."Manda help me. "You what?" Kuo blurted out staring at the trooper.Vere laughed at whatever Kuo's expression was doing. "He's apparently more or less an obligate carnivore now."Velvet stretched languidly and smirked at Cody. "Mmmm, but I still love sucking--"Cinder shut him up with a light smack to his head. Kuo gave him a grateful look.While Velvet made offended noises and grumbled curses under his breath about just how long it would be before he used his talents on Cinder again and how others appreciated him way more, Vector picked up the thread."Don't worry, Vod'e," he said, "whatever it is, it's not transmissible, so you won't be affected if you want to take a tumble.""But our harem lead has priority," Captain Vere added, getting a quiet huff out of Lun'dar, who'd managed to stay surprisingly quiet so far. "He gets first dibs.""So you've told us about Velvet's mods, and I've seen them," Cody interjected, clearly trying to keep things on track, "but what about your own?"Vector and his Captain exchanged a look, smirked, then shrugged at each other.Vere was the one to answer. "Well, Commander, I got a tentacle for a deece and Vector the corresponding hole to slot it into."Lun'dar sputtered. So did Lieutenant Waxer. Kuo just gaped at them. That was...That was just...He didn't have the words to describe how kriffing ridiculous that sounded.The room was more or less silent for a few seconds."You what?" Sergeant Klick squeaked."Oh Force," Rous cackled, "show us."It was like watching a speeder wreck. Kuo saw the way the alor's eyes went wide with realisation and just knew what was going to happen next. He also knew he had little chance of derailing it."Agreed," Cody put in, already reaching out to Captain Vere as though he wanted to strip his ARC out of his armour on the spot.Just before Cody's hand could make contact with the fastenings of Captain Vere's kama, Velvet caught the alor's eyes and added, "He lays eggs now, too."The room went silent again.Kuo blinked, hard. "He what."Lun'dar echoed him. "Eggs? What, is he half trandoshan, now?"Lieutenant Waxer eyed Cody in what looked like a mix of respect and astonishment. "And you let that maniac ARC Captain of yours sex you up last rotation, Commander?"Cody waved that off. "I let Velvet sex me up, not Vere. This is the first I'm hearing about any tentacle deeces, myself."Because that made things so kriffing much better. Manda. What a nightmare."I wish I hadn't heard about them," Kuo grumbled, setting off a chorus of snickers."I swear, you are the most sex-repulsed non-ace being I know," Velvet told him seriously."It's either that or he's just the most prudish," Vector pointed out.That had Lun'dar cackling. Kuo wasn't sure what his face was doing, but judging by the expressions the Vod'e were making, they thought it was hilarious. Burying his face in his hands briefly and stifling an agonised groan, he allowed himself a moment to regain his balance.I knew I was going to hate this, he reminded himself. Now I've got to see it through.Raising his head again, he pinned Velvet with the best glare he could muster, in the moment. "Is it so much to ask that you karking keep it in your verbal pants around me?""Probably," Lun'dar answered him. "You should know how the Vod'e are, by now."Kuo turned his glare on her, and got a smirk back that said his second was enjoying herself immensely."Can we go back to the part where Velvet claimed Captain Vere can karking lay eggs?" Cinder asked. "That just sounds impossible. And painful."Ink nodded. "Not sure that's anything I want any part of."Fixer winced. "Right."Captain Vere gave Cinder a smug kriffing smile as he answered the question, ignoring the others' commentary. "I can. Only happens under specific circumstances, though."What those specific kriffing circumstances were, Kuo didn't want to know. Nope."It feels karking amazing," Vector put in, forcibly reminding Kuo of the fact that he now apparently had the appropriate anatomy to receive and incubate those eggs."Wait," Waxer jumped back in. "Pare kriffing sol. You have eggs." Captain Vere nodded. Waxer turned to Vector. "And you have a hole to put eggs in." Vector nodded, looking very amused. Waxer stared at them both in disbelief. "Does that karking mean you three can somehow have babies now?""Vod," Cody pointed out, "we've always been able to have kids. Fox adopted a whole jetii clan, remember?""Sure, but this is different." Waxer sounded stunned. "Before, we had to adopt, or find someone to carry them, or source ourselves a cloning vat. But if I'm reading this situation right, your ARCs can just make babies on their own, now."Kuo kind of agreed; he was more than a little bit stunned, himself. This was... kriff, this was a disaster in the making.Vector shrugged, apparently unconcerned. "We could, but none of us is ready to be a buir just yet, and our contraceptive shots still work fine."That had the alor giving his ARCs a look that said he was finally starting to think about the possible consequences of this misadventure his di'kut'e had been caught up in. "Oh. Good to know.""Kriff, wait," Sergeant Klick blurted out, sitting bolt upright. "How many eggs did you say you had, exactly?"Velvet snickered. "Seems to vary a little, but about five.""Five." Kuo felt a little faint. "Oh kark.""Whoa," Cinder said, "a whole squad at a time.""Kark." Waxer looked dazed. "You three better kriffing stay on top of keeping those contraceptives updated, then, if you're not ready to have kids.""Oh, believe me," Vector muttered, "we know."Rous prodded delicately at Captain Vere's waist. "You don't look any different. How big are they, then?"That had Captain Vere looking extremely put out. "About the size of kriffing nuna eggs. My waist got a whole kriffing span bigger. It's kind of awful. My clothes won't fit anymore."Velvet and Vector both immediately wrapped themselves around their pylat bird of a Captain, and started whispering compliments at him, telling him how handsome and amazing he was. Everyone else in the room just stared at them.Kuo boggled. That trooper was carrying around kriffing nuna eggs? And they could turn into humanoid ad'ike somehow? How in the name of the Manda? For that matter, how the kriff could it feel good to pass anything that size out of his body?Kriff, he needed to stop --"You're mouthwatering," Velvet said, a bit more loudly, breaking into Kuo's thoughts. "I want to bite you again, then suck you off."-- thinking about this. Kuo groaned.Lun'dar snorted. "If you get yourself sent back to the healing halls with something the size of a nuna egg stuck in your throat, your CMO might try to kill you."Velvet honest to kriff pouted at her. "But--""She's not wrong, Vod," Cody cut him off. "CMO Carver might finally let Flutter stab you."Velvet subsided, with a disappointed noise.Vector carded a hand through the di'kut's hair. "Don't worry, Vod," he said. "We'll make sure you can swallow Vere's tentacle, without eggs involved, sometime soon."That statement finally gave Kuo the kick he needed to break free of his horrified fascination with the whole scene. "You know what," he said, standing, "I'm out. You or'dinii'se can continue this discussion without me."Lun'dar outright laughed at him, that time. "Go ahead, ver'alor. I'll keep an eye on things here."Shaking his head and muttering imprecations under his breath, Kuo left, the remains of his dignity in tatters around him as he fled.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

--- POV: ARC Trooper Sinker ---It had been an incredible relief to go out and move. Sinker could tell that Boost and Regor felt the same way. Working up a good sweat felt amazing after all that sitting around, and being able to blast the shit out of some targets felt even better.Having their squad around them was the best of all. Sinker hadn’t realized how much he’d missed them.Even if the assholes had stared at him while he drank his cup of blood with latemeal.“You could drink a cup of blood, too,” Sinker said waspishly.Demir snorted at him. “We could, but I don’t think we’d like it as much as you.”Sinker stuck his tongue out at him. He didn’t really have a defense beyond that. The blood tasted fantastic.“It is not so unusual, Vod’e,” General Buir had said with good humor. “Many species enjoy such things.”“Oh, we know,” Roc said in between bites. “It’s just weird to see it in action.”“Weirder to be the one doing it,” Sinker muttered.“Do you know that your eyes glow now sometimes?” Demir said, pointing to Sinker with his fork. “Like when you drink blood.”“And other times,” Starling added.“We’ve made him aware,” Regor said with a huff of laughter.“The color seems to come out either when you’re particularly hungry or feeling emotional,” General Buir said. “Or, perhaps, when you are in touch with the Force.”Which brought up the next monster to tame. Sinker set down his-- his drink, ugh-- and groaned. “How much staring at a wall do I need to do?”“Do we need to do,” Boost said, correcting him. “Because we won’t make you do that alone.”Regor nodded. “Besides. It feels…”
Safer. Better. More stable.
Sinker nodded back. He felt it too.The three of them leaned in closer together on reflex.“We may have to watch that,” Demir muttered to Wolffe. Wolffe tilted his head to the side in agreement as he ate.“I’m not that bad,” Sinker said. He was starting to feel a little picked on… and kind of appreciated, too. They cared about him enough to tease.“You and Velvet hissed when you saw each other,” Splint pointed out. “Like alley tookas.”Sinker rolled his eyes as everyone laughed at that.“All three of you move faster now, too,” Splint added.“Wait, really?” Regor asked.General Buir nodded. “I could feel you all in the Force, leaning on it. Not as much as a Jedi might. Just enough for me to notice. Eat well, tonight, for you have expended more energy than you likely expected to.”Huh.Boost and Sinker exchanged a thoughtful look. Regor just looked tickled.“At least we get something out of this nonsense,” Regor said.“Plus, you can act as back up drugs for the medics,” Boost pointed out.“Wait, what?” Demir’s eyebrows hit his hairline.Sinker rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. “The bite. It’s… it feels good? When I want it to.” Force, put it like that and it sounded downright dirty. From the appreciative tooka-calls and whistles, the rest of his squad felt the same way. Boost just gave him a supportive nudge, shoulder to shoulder. “Like a good hit of muscle relaxants. Or better,” he added that last bit in an embarrassed grumble.“It’s true,” Wolffe said nonchalantly. “It’s nothing to worry about. Doesn’t hurt. Could help, if we needed it.”Sinker cast him a grateful look. If Wolffe wasn’t worked up about it, the rest of their Vod’e would follow suit. Eventually.“This is part of the medical effects of the changes,” General Buir said. He’d been briefed already by them, and presumably Master Che and Splint. “I will hope that we have no need to call upon your services.”“If we’re lucky,” Regor said under his breath. Sinker nodded. Some part of him was thrilled about the idea of leaving bite marks on every member of the Wolfpack. Most of him was still reeling over the possibility that it might happen. And besides, if their medics needed his help, then they were all well and truly kriffed in a way that didn’t bear thinking about.“And to answer your question,” General Buir continued, “there will be some staring at walls.” His sonorous voice was heavily colored with amusement. “More sitting with your eyes closed, while focusing. Once we get a good baseline for where you are at, we will work on control. It won’t be hard. Perhaps merely tedious, at times. You’ll do well, my sons.”Force, Sinker was so damn grateful for General Buir. He’d make sure everything worked out.As strange as life had become, Sinker still had his general and his Vod’e here, supporting them all. He could smell their ease and confidence in him, in them. There had been some playful ribbing over the changes -- though as bad as he’d thought it would be -- and some horrified faces at their new biological configurations -- again, not as much as he’d expected -- but overall, the Wolfpack had welcomed them all back with relief.More than one Vod had insisted that they get to see Sinker’s new bite impression. They had all been suitably impressed. A few of them had even had a whiff of interest about them while looking at the scars on Wolffe, Boost, and Regor’s arms. Sinker didn’t really want to think about how pleased that made him.
Yeah, definitely gonna have to keep an eye on that reaction.
All in all, Sinker was feeling a karkload less unhappy about life in general.They’d be stuck in Temple for a while, but that wasn’t so bad.“You will all do well, my sons, never fear,” General Buir said again.Sinker smiled and gave Boost a bump, shoulder to shoulder. That gently knocked Boost into Regor’s side, who returned the bump with clear pleasure.Yeah. They’d be alright.----- POV: CMO Carver ---Carver had a whole list of things to take care of after the cuddle pile. He’d gotten hugs from just about everyone and a sharp warning glare from Flutter, but no one tried to stop him from completing his errands.Very important errands.He had to get his rooms ready for visitors.He’d never had visitors in his rooms.As CMO, he’d been granted a small private apartment off of the main Guard barracks in the Temple. Which meant that he had a tiny kitchen/sitting area, a private bedroom, and a ‘fresher, all to himself. Since the Guard was permanently stationed in Temple, they’d gotten some astonishingly nice digs.Or at least, Carver had thought they were nice.Maybe a frontliner would disagree. Kix’s rooms were smaller. Then again, the 501st was primarily stationed on Mandalore.Carver’s anxiety ramped up.
Deep breaths.
Well, there wasn’t much to clean, at least. Carver kept his rooms meticulously tidy. Probably in part because he didn’t do much in them. He was either on shift in the Halls, out on call somewhere in the Temple, or rarely called out to somewhere on Coruscant. When he wasn’t working, he was reading medical journals or sleeping. He had a holoprojector to watch holodramas on, he’d just never used it.Alright, so he only used it sometimes to watch the terrible 000 daytime dramas. They didn’t count as real entertainment. Just something hilarious and distracting to put on while he was trying to unwind. All of the Guards did it. Despite the name, the daytime dramas played at all hours. They were also objectively awful.Good intel, though, for how natborns thought.
Stop. My hare-- my lovers don’t want to watch daytime holotrash.
Maybe food? He should get food. Or drinks? Kark, he couldn’t drink anything that they probably drank. Carver had physically recovered enough from the war that the occasional alcoholic drink was fine, though he couldn’t really stomach more than a sip or two. Stims were right out. Much like they were for the rest of the Guard. Force, some days Carver really missed the caff crud that they’d used to make during the war.That would only make the jitters worse, he reminded himself. The comedown would be brutal, too. He knew that he couldn’t handle any kind of stimulants now. His insides would rebel.Kark.He tossed a quick private message to Commander Fox.
How do I make frontliners feel comfortable in my rooms?
A response came back almost immediately.
Keep the place relatively clean, and ask them what they’d like to have. Drinks, food, whatever. Communicate with them about what you need, too. Good luck. Comm if you need extraction.
Carver snorted. That was probably a joke. Then again, probably not.He stared at his comm and tried not to panic.Now or never.… Well, no. Realistically, he knew he could try this again some other time.If anything, that just spurred him on.He sent out a written group message to Velvet, Vector, Vere, Jesse, and Kix.
Would you all like to join me in my rooms tonight for a cuddle pile? I could order latemeal in, if you all want. Or drinks.
He hit send before he could tie himself into further knots about it.This was fine. They were all probably busy with their squads. They’d likely get back to him later tonight with a simple no thank--His comm beeped.That was Velvet. The three of us will be there! We’ll bring drinks. Send us the time you want us to arrive.Carver sat and stared at his comm.“That was fast,” he muttered in shock.Not more than a minute later, he got another message from Kix. Jesse and I can be there in an hour. I’ve a few things to wrap up. We’ll bring popped grains.Because of course they would.Carver had assumed they’d bring metaphorical popped grains anyways, because the two of them seemed to be so damn entertained with how flustered Carver still got.Kark. Now he was committed.After messaging back Velvet with a time and quickly drinking his own fruit-nutrient smoothie, Carver occupied himself with trying to figure out where the kriff they would all sleep. He had a decent sized bed. It wasn’t large enough for six vod’e, however.After a significant amount of debate, he ended up poking his head out into the barracks and raiding the communal stash of roll out mattresses; they kept those around for larger cuddle piles. He ignored the curious looks from the handful of Guards that were lounging around.This is fine, this is fine, my anxiety has nothing to do with reality, I’m fine.Depending on how tonight went, Carver could just requisition some fold out mattresses for his small sitting room.The thought that these group cuddle piles might become a more-than-one-time event left Carver feeling a dangerous mix of hope and terror, so he avoided thinking about it.At least he had enough pillows. Excessive amounts of pillows were something that every Guard indulged in. They’d even followed Commander Fox’s example and gotten themselves small plushies. Not that any of them would ever talk to a GAR Vod about that. Having such soft toys felt too much like being vulnerable, which would be too easy to exploit. None of them were terribly close to the frontliners, anyways.But now the frontliners would know. Or at least, some frontliners would know.It felt disingenuous to hide the plushies scattered around his sitting area, but too revealing to leave them out. What would be the safest move?Deep breaths.Carver had to pause his preparation of the sitting room just to have a minor meltdown on his couch.
This is fine, this is fine, everything will be alright. If any one of my-- my-- my-- if any of them talk shit I can just bandage them to a table. Or make them clean bedpans for every free moment that they have any time they are on 000. Commander Fox will help. I shouldn’t have to hide what I like.
It took several minutes, but Carver got himself back under control.Just in time for there to be a knock at his door. It was Guard code: Visitors. Maybe friendly.Right. Because the Vs and Kix and Jesse would have to walk through Guard territory to get to Carver’s rooms. Kark, he hadn’t even told them how to get here. Whatever. They’d clearly found their way.Carver took a breath and settled himself one more time, and then went to unbar the door.Willow was there, with Vere, Vector, and Velvet just behind him; Willow was still in most of his kit, though his bucket was off, showing off his long, pale green hair. He must have been the one assigned to watch the common room entry way. The Vs all looked excited as kriff.Willow raised an eyebrow at Carver.With a subtle hand motion and a slight turn of his face, Carver let Willow know that everything was alright.“You are all prompt. Vor’e,” Carver said, for lack of anything better to say.Velvet about bounced into Carver’s arms. “Nayc, nayc! We're happy for the invitation!”Thank the Force for Velvet’s enthusiasm. Carver found himself relaxing without even trying.Carver said to Willow, “CMO Kix and ARC Trooper Jesse should be here soon, too.”“I’ll bring them over,” Willow said with mild amusement. With a wave, he went back to his post.Carver ushered the Vs inside, pausing only to check outside one last time before shutting and barring the door.The chuh-THUNK sound of the bar dropping into place echoed in the small space. Carver winced.His wince doubled when he heard Velvet and Vector coo appreciatively upon entering the sitting area. Right. The plushies. Whelp, there was no backing out now.Carver took a slow, deep breath and headed into the fray.“I’ve heard that Commander Fox has a bar on his door, too,” Vere said, almost casually as Carver approached. He was unloading a bag, setting small bottled drinks and prepackaged snacks on the counter next to Carver’s ‘crisper.“We all do,” Carver said, self-consciously. “There’s a lively debate on if it would really help, but it makes us all feel better, either way.”Before he could say anything else, there was another Guard coded knock. Willow had returned with Kix and Jesse in tow.After that Carver was swept up in a short but very flustering few minutes of trying to get everyone comfortable and settled.No one said anything about the small, perfectly round plush ‘tookas’ on the couch, or the strangely triangle-wedge shaped lizard plush in Guard red. They were all unreasonably cute. Carver hadn’t been able to resist the little lizard’s angry face.Vector was already sprawled on the mattresses, with Vere lounging next to him in such a way that he looked karking posed. Velvet had taken his chance to drape himself over Carver as best as he could even though Carver was still up and walking around. This made Carver’s attempts to make sure they all were comfortable a bit more difficult, as he couldn’t really karking move. Not that he was complaining about having Velvet wrapped around him. He’d be crazy to complain about that. As expected, Kix and Jesse were watching with amusement, cuddled up next to each other close to Vere.“Come on, sit with us,” Velvet cajoled. “Get your drink and come relax.”“This isn’t going to be a sex thing,” Carver said, maybe harsher than he should have. He just felt so damn stressed, and for no karking reason.“Doesn’t have to be,” Velvet said easily. “We’re happy to be here just cuddling.”With that, he shoved a bottle into Carver’s hands.
I probably can’t even drink-- oh.
The bottle in his hands was a dairy-fruit drink. No stims.“We know what you can drink,” Vere said.“We checked, just to be sure,” Vector said.That…That was astonishingly sweet.Carver didn’t really know what to do with that.Instead he nodded towards the room. “Sorry it’s plain.”He hadn’t ever bothered to decorate. He wasn’t even really sure how to. One day he’d get to it. Eventually.“I don’t know,” Velvet purred into his ear. “I can’t think of anything I’d like to look at more.”Carver gulped hard as heat flooded his face.“I’m kind of loving these guys,” Jesse said with a chin-jerk towards the plushies on the couch. He snagged the grumpy lizard and gave it a friendly squeeze.That just made Carver flush harder. He wasn’t sure if he should be pleased or defensive. He’d lost his words again.“Just come sit with us,” Kix suggested. “We’ll relax for a little. Maybe watch a show?” He nodded towards the holoprojector.“Whatever you all would like.” Carver didn’t know what else to offer.Velvet herded him towards the group. After a moment of shuffling, Carver found himself near smothered on all sides by Vod’e. He was propped up just enough to easily get a drink of his juice. Only his head and his arm were even remotely free.“What if I want to set the drink down?” Carver asked, desperately unsure of how to proceed. The earlier cuddle pile with his ARCs and CCs hadn’t been anywhere near this stressful.Then again, he knew everyone in the Guard very, very well.And that earlier cuddle pile also hadn’t had Carver thinking about how good it would feel to be held by so many people while someone sucked him off. So there was that.Velvet grinned into Carver’s chest from his prime spot laying across Carver’s front.“That’s why the bottles have screw on lids,” Vere said, amused. He and Vector were tucked in tightly to Carver’s side.Oh. That made sense.“Now pick something for us to watch,” Jesse said. He was wedged up to Carver’s other side, with Kix sprawled over him. One of Kix’s arms was wrapped around Velvet’s middle.“... Ever seen daytime holodramas?” Carver asked hesitantly.No one had.Fifteen minutes into the first one, and all of Carver’s cyare’se were laughing and shouting at the holoprojector. The plotlines were objectively bad. Carver knew that. And yet, no one seemed to mind.Velvet wasn’t even watching. He was busy making out with Vector, while still sprawled across Carver.That was just as damn fun to watch as the holodrama.Kix was already dead asleep, snoozing quietly as Jesse played with his short, stylized buzz cut. Vere was laughing along with Jesse; one of Vere’s arms had wormed its way behind Carver’s lower back, tugging him close.Carver suddenly realized that he wasn’t anxious any more. Not really.He took a long, slow breath.This was going alright. Everyone was having a nice time.“There you go,” Vere said quietly into Carver’s ear. “Just relax.”A bone deep shudder raced up Carver’s spine and then he melted further into the hold that everyone had on him.“I’ve never had anyone in my rooms before,” he said quietly.Velvet broke off from his kissing to smile up at Carver. “Thank you for having us.”“We’re happy to be here,” Jesse said.Vector and Vere nodded.They were telling the truth. Carver was sure of it. They really did want to be here. Which meant that they felt he was worth their time.“I like this,” Carver said, shyly.“Then we’ll do more of it,” Vere said easily.“And other things, if you want,” Velvet said, the flirt. He gave Carver a hungry grin. Somehow, the fangs just made him more attractive.A little more tension flew away, out of Carver’s thoughts and minds, leaving only contentment.“Alright,” Carver said with a hesitant smile. “That’s. That would be. Really nice.”He glanced up at his barred door. He was in his secure room, with people he liked and cared about, with his whole battalion outside going about their lives.Maybe this would work out, this whole harem thing.“So can I suck you off now?” Velvet asked hopefully.Carver laughed.“Oh, that’s a nice sound,” Vere purred as he nuzzled into Carver’s temple. “You should laugh more often.”Despite his previous worries, Carver thought that he might. It was hard not to be happy, just now.----- POV: Captain Rex ---“I didn’t even get to suck him off,” Kote grumbled.Rex watched his riduur with deep amusement.The earlier meet up with the Vs had quickly turned into a show-and-tell, as Vere and Vector relayed all the details about their new and interesting anatomy. Kote’s interest was entirely predictable. Rex had to admit that he was intrigued, especially if it meant seeing Kote take Vere’s tentacle.There had been enough to talk about and enough questions to answer that none of them had been too eager to get directly to an orgy.Then before things could really get interesting, the Vs had all gotten a comm. Velvet had lit up like an active hyperspace engine and had practically dragged his batchers out of the room.Apparently, their harem called.“You’ll get your chance,” Rex said as he lounged, partially consumed by Obi-Wan’s sentient-eating couch.Kote paced back and forth across the room. Obi-Wan’s rooms were their unofficial meeting place in the Temple. With the Vs now very thoroughly distracted and Kuo chased off for the night, that meant they unexpectedly had the evening free.If they were lucky, then Obi-Wan and Fox would join them later.Kote let out a huff of a laugh and his shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, you’re probably right on that. And, even better, Obi-Wan will be joining us back on Mandalore for a while.”Rex felt a nexu smile curve across his face. He was very much looking forward to having their jetii with them, even if it was only for a few months.That did mean that Fox would be here in the Temple with less support; Rex comforted himself with the knowledge that Wolffe and his battalion would be here for the duration, as those Wolfpack ARCs got their own version of the flash training that the Vs were going to get. Mace would be here too, as always, working with Fox.Rex had always respected Mace as a competent jetii and an excellent leader. Seeing his care and steadfastness towards Fox had increased Rex’s admiration for him a great deal. Those two were a good match as master and padawan. So though it would pain him, as it always did, to leave Fox here in-Temple, Rex wasn’t as bothered as he once would have been.“You know, I wonder--”Before Kote could finish formulating whatever probably-sex-act that he was speculating on, the door to Obi-Wan’s rooms opened up and the man himself walked in, with Fox a step behind him.“--inside, get food, and get sleep,” Fox said with tired irritation.Obi-Wan just laughed at him good naturedly. “Come now, this is good news!”Fox gave Obi-Wan a glare so toxic that Rex wondered if he’d gained the Force ability to leak radiation.“It isn’t even a--!” Fox’s impending rant was forcefully derailed by Kote very thoroughly kissing him.Kote curled one arm around Fox’s back, drawing him in closer. Fox, predictably, melted right into him. Mesh’la. They were stunning together.Rex leveraged himself out of the couch and was about to give Obi-Wan a similar welcome when Obi-Wan slipped off to lock the door behind them. Then the wily jetii made a direct course for the kitchen.
Probably wants tea.
That was fine. Rex detoured to go kiss Fox.By the time Kote finally pulled away, Fox was a little glassy-eyed and his lips were plush and red from being so thoroughly kissed.“You can’t distract me,” Fox said, sounding a bit dazed.“Sounds like a challenge to me,” Rex said with a grin.Kote looked very, very pleased and satisfied.Obi-Wan stepped in behind Rex and wrapped him in a hug from behind. “I know you’re quite determined, but it may be wise for you to remember that you all are equally stubborn.”“Smart jetii,” Rex said, half-turning to capture Obi-Wan’s mouth in a kiss.Rex started out sweet for his cyare, relishing the way that Obi-Wan let him in. He withdrew just long enough to give Obi-Wan a soft smile, and to see the sparkling warmth in his eyes, and then he pressed in, eager to taste as much as he could. The soft nmh! that Obi-Wan made and the way one hand combed through Rex’s short hair was encouragement enough.“He hasn’t had latemeal or midmeal yet,” Fox said a little dryly.Rex ended the kiss to give Obi-Wan a chiding look.Obi-Wan just let his eyes go wide and innocent. This was somewhat spoiled by the smirk on his lips.“And you have?” Kote asked Fox.“I had my mid morning smoothie.” Fox had the gall to sound like this was in any way, shape, or form enough food.“I’ve already placed an order at one of the refectories,” Obi-Wan said. “They should be dropping it off soon. Meanwhile, perhaps you should tell Rex and Cody the good news.”Rex turned to raise his eyebrows at Fox.Fox just scowled thunderously, his bad mood apparently instantly returned. He detached himself from Kote’s arms and proceeded to stomp over to an armor stand to strip out of his beskar’gam with controlled precision.“Good news. Good news,” Fox spat. Rex shared a look with Kote. What the kriff. “We wasted a whole Force forsaken week karking around with that artefact. Digging through the archives. Searching for whatever haran that some ancient Sith had come up with to torment us all now. And do you know what we found?”A rhetorical question, Rex was sure.“Karking nothing!” Fox said with a snarl. “Because it’s not a Sith artefact. It’s a Jedi artefact. We were looking in the wrong place!”“Uh.” Kote looked like he’d been hit in the back of a head with a board. Rex kind of felt the same way, so he sympathized.“Wait, what?” Rex asked.Obi-Wan gave Rex’s shoulder a squeeze and went back to the kitchen to clatter about with cups.Fox sat down to take off his boots. “It’s a kriffing Jedi artefact. An ancient one, designed specifically to give sentient species in danger of going extinct a bit of a reproductive boost. Apparently, the karking thing was made too well. It’s incredibly reactive, more so to beings that don’t have any special connection to the Force, which is why they locked it away and then karking forgot about it. Master Nu found a whole damn write up on it, once we knew what we were looking for and where to find it.”Rex stared, reeling with the implications of that. “But Vod’e aren’t--”“We kind of are, cyare,” Kote said. “We’re not exactly baseline human, what with all the enhancements. We can breed with humans--” As well as a whole karkload of other sentient species, but Rex wasn’t going to bring that up, “--but were we to do that… the Vod’e that our people create won’t be as we were. Not without further negotiations with Kamino.” Kote made a face at that.Rex and Fox both grimaced, too. None of them wanted anything to do with the longnecks, not if they could help it.“It seems that the Vod’e were distinct enough to set off the intelligence in the artefact,” Fox said, leaning back into the seat with a sigh.“It’s intelligent?!” Kote asked.Fox shrugged.“Of a sort,” Obi-Wan said, returning with a cup of tea in hand. “Not quite as independent as a holocron, more autonomous than most kyber crystals. It relies a great deal on the feel of a being in the Force. From what we can tell, though the Vod’e are human, most of you feel… separate. Unique.” He hesitated a moment, and then shrugged. “I would guess that many of you don’t feel as if you are part of humanity as a whole.”“Shit,” Rex muttered.“We weren’t considered human,” Fox said quietly. Rex knew that wasn't quite the right phrase. The problem wasn't that they weren't considered human, it was that they weren't considered sentient. There was an undertone of old bitterness in Fox's voice, a sentiment that resonated in Rex’s core. They all knew what the trainers on Kamino had thought of them. Copies. Meat droids. Some of that had been alleviated during the war… well. For most of them, once they’d met the Jedi. The Guard hadn’t gotten even that.The Vod’e had rights now, and had been declared fully sentient citizens for a few years now. Knowing that intellectually and feeling it inside as true were two different things. Even though most of them reveled in their justly earned status, many Vod’e still felt… separate from baseline humans.“So the Force doesn’t think we’re people, either?” Kote asked, sounding hurt.Rex stepped over to him and pulled him into a hug.Before he could start arguing that, because kriff that, Obi-Wan interrupted him to say, “No. That’s not it at all. You are all very much sentient people. You are all human, if enhanced, and even if you weren't, the human species hardly has a monopoly on sentience. As far as we can see, the artefact has a tendency to rely on how a person feels emotionally about themselves and their people. All beings are lights in the galaxy, and through the Force, the first thing noticeable beyond life itself is emotion. Not species.”Rex frowned. “So the thing thought we were endangered because our ARCs feel like we're an endangered species?” That didn’t sound right. Granted, Rex wasn’t very close to the ARCs in question, but he didn’t think that they held that kind of opinion of themselves, or the rest of them.Fox made a face and shook his head. “We wish it was that simple. No, the artefact reached out to the ARCs, noticed that they were not quite baseline human, and then felt in the Force that the Vod’e as a whole classify themselves as Vod’e first and humans second. Thus, we qualified as an endangered species. Because, as created, we can’t make more of our… subspecies, for lack of a better term.”"More clones, you mean," Kote stated.Fox gave him a tired shrug.Rex wasn’t sure if that was better or worse. He wrinkled his nose.Better, probably. At least the Force itself wasn’t saying they weren’t people.Obi-Wan stepped over to lean into Rex and Kote, holding his mug off to the side so that he wouldn’t spill. “On the bright side, we now have a very detailed account of what, exactly, the changes are that have happened to those ARC troopers. It’s quite fascinating! It seems that they are now capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction now, depending on the genetic variation of whoever fertilizes the egg.”What.Obi-Wan continued, sounding more than a bit excited. “If the sperm donor is genetically identical to the egg donor, then once the cellular division has begun, the sperm donor’s genetic material is discarded and the hatchling will grow without undergoing the fertilization required in human and near human subspecies. There is a phenomenon like this that’s seen in a variety of aquatic species, and, based on the hints in the manual Master Nu found, that may very well be the inspiration for this function of the artefact." His eyes sparkled as he spoke, clearly becoming invested in his subject. "If there is enough variation between the parents to create healthy offspring, then the resulting hatchling will be a hybrid, rather than a clone of the egg donor."What's interesting is that the sperm of the modified Vod'e, specifically the Vod'e with the fangs, isn't quite like that of the average Vod. Their sperm has a small but noticeably larger degree of genetic variation compared to a sperm sample taken from a Vod that hasn't touched the artefact at all. So while the viable hatchlings produced from two Vod'e who have been altered by the artefact will likely result in offspring that are true clones, but there is a chance that other rarer traits might surface, creating hybrids -- per normal mammalian sexual reproduction. And, yes, the whole process is very different from the way baseline humans reproduce, but that does not mean that your Vod’e are no longer considered human. Even with the slightly different appendages, they still qualify as nearly baseline.” He sipped his tea as he hummed. “Apparently, this whole set up is a standard modification configuration for the artefact, as it is designed to increase numbers in a limited genetic pool, while limiting genetic defects and promoting genetic diversity. The archived information indicates that sometimes all of the modifications are added to a single being, allowing for self-fertilization or direct cloning. For our Vod'e, the modifications were split between the six of them. Or rather, two sets of three.”Rex chewed on that for a moment, boggling at the possibilities. None of them had gotten more than a crash course on human and non-human reproduction when they were cadets and this stretched his current nebulous knowledge on the subject.“We can clone ourselves now as well as have children the usual way,” Fox said. “Without the decanting tubes.” His gaze shifted off to stare into nothing with a great deal of resignation.“Kriff, that means that--” Rex started.“With that artefact, more of our Vod’e could get modified, if they wanted to,” Kote finished what Rex had begun. “And there could be more Vod’e. Vod’ike. Cadets. Clones like we were made and hybrids of both parents. All hatched by the half-dozen.” His eyes went wide. “Oh kark, how many cadets are we going to have running around soon? Where are we going to put them all? Who raises them?”Rex’s mouth went dry as his mind raced through the possibilities.The air tightened around them, a Force squeeze not unlike a large group hug. Whether it was Fox or Obi-Wan doing that, Rex wasn’t sure. He was damn grateful for the support.“Don’t worry, ner cyare’se,” Obi-Wan said soothingly to them. “The Order will help you figure out all of those things. Helping recovering and emerging populations is something we’re very well practiced in.”Right. That was true. Rex breathed a sigh of relief and tucked his face into Kote’s neck. This was big and potentially life-changing, but they could and would be able to handle this.“This changes everything for us,” Kote said softly. “I’d thought… well. We’d all thought that we’d just… either get folded into existing groups like the Order or the Mando’ad clans. Some of us would have children and the rest would just…” He shrugged. “We’d march on, eventually. Until the Vod’e were just a memory.”Not anymore. Kriffing kark.An incredulous laugh bubbled out of Rex. “Can you just picture the look on Prime’s face if he ever realized that there would be clones of him living on, generation after generation?”Kote laughed. Fox snorted. Obi-Wan looked amused.“We’d live on anyways,” Fox said with a shrug. “In stories and legends.”“And now with egg hatchlings,” Rex said. He rubbed his eyes. “Please tell me you have good information on how to hatch those eggs safely.” He already knew of at least two Vod’e who’d want to breed their own ad’e.“We do,” Obi-Wan assured him. “The artefact is stable. Mace and I have already talked this over. We’ll have a full vote on it in the High Council tomorrow, just to inform the rest of the council and make the decision final. We’re willing to offer the Vod’e use of the artefact, if any others wish to be altered.”“You know your lieutenant is going to jump at that,” Rex said to Kote.Kote groaned. “Oh Force, how do I keep Waxer and Boil from spawning five dozen cadets immediately.”Obi-Wan laughed. “Possibly by reminding them that we need the infrastructure to house, feed, and raise those children first.”Rex snorted. That was a solid point.“We,” Kote said. He turned to Obi-Wan and gave him a blinding smile. “We need.”Obi-Wan blushed and looked to the side. “Well. I’d assumed…”Kote grabbed Obi-Wan so fast that Rex had to lunge to save Obi-Wan’s tea from spilling. He still wasn’t sure that he managed it without Force help from Fox, somehow.After kissing the breath out of Obi-Wan, Kote smiled at him again. “I like the sound of that,” he said softly.Obi-Wan’s answering smile was as soft as it was radiant.“So…” Rex said. “Bed?”Bed would be a good thing, right now. Then they could work all the stress out of their cyare’se, probably with their tongues…Fox snorted, while Obi-Wan’s eyes crinkled with good humor.“But darling, I’d thought that we were waiting for latemeal?” Obi-Wan asked like the shit stirrer he was.“Food later, sex now,” Kote growled into Obi-Wan’s mouth.While Obi-Wan was very promptly dragged off to the bedroom, Rex turned to raise an eyebrow at Fox. “You want to go to the bedroom too? Or should I take you apart here?”The bright blush on Fox’s face was a mark of victory, despite Fox trying to pretend to be aloof.“You sure you don’t want to go talk our riduur out of getting his very own tentacle?” Fox said dryly, even as he eyed Rex up and down.Rex snorted. “If he wants to do that, that’s up to him. I wouldn’t mind either way. I think I’m content as I am, though.” Personally, he didn’t think that Kote would want to be modified, though Kote might think it over first. “What about you?” he asked, taking a slow, predatory step closer. “You thinking of a change?”Fox rolled his eyes and settled into his seat to lounge, looking oh-so delectable in his kute. That shabuir was posing on purpose. “As if I haven’t already had enough of that,” he said with a snort. “No thanks. I’ll stick with myself as I am.” Then he smirked. “And maybe with that cast we made.”Rex groaned a bit as he thought of the last time they’d all had a chance to play with the cast they’d taken of Fox when he’d been transformed into an enormous human-vulptex hybrid. “Nnnng. Good times.”He refocused himself on Fox and took another step forward.“Let’s see if we can have a few more good times,” Rex muttered as he knelt down and pressed Fox’s legs apart.That adorable blush was back on Fox’s face and his eyes were as wide as moons.“Come here, ner mesh’la cyare,” Rex said as he finger-tip walked his hands up Fox’s thighs. “Let’s have some fun. You’ve done enough work.”He could see the objections dying on Fox’s lips.“I think you deserve to be rewarded,” Rex said with a wicked grin.“’Lek,” Fox whispered.There would be time enough to figure out the details of this new clusterkriff later. For now, Rex wanted to taste his riduur.--

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ad - n. gender neutral child; plural: ad'e
Ad'ika -n. gender neutral little or younger child; plural: ad'ike
Aliit - n. Clan, family
Alor - n. LeaderBeskar - n. Mandalorian iron
Buir - n. parentCabur - n. guardian, protector
Cyare - adj. beloved, loved, popular; plural: cyare'seDi'kut - n. idiot; plural: di'kut'e
Di'kut'la - adj. idiotic, foolish
Dini'la - adj. insane
Din'kartay - n. sitrep, wash-up, any sharing of information and planning (military, also used colloquially)Evaar'ad'e - n. New Mandalorians, (Lit: New/Young Children)Gar - pron. you/your
Gar serim - "Yes, you're right," or "That's it."Haran - n. hell (literally: destruction, cosmic annihilation)
Hetikle'yc - spicy, as in makes the sinuses burn (a sensation like eating horseradish or wasabi)
Heturam - n. mouthburn; a sought-after state of intense burning in the mouth brought about by very spicy food - see also hetikleyc
Hukaat'kama - "Watch my six" (Literally: "Cover my back")Jare'la - adj. stupidly oblivious of danger, asking for it
Jetii - n. Jedi; plural: jetiiseK', Ke - prepositional prefix denoting an imperative; eg: Olaror = to arrive; K'olar = "come here"
Kyr'stad - n. Death Watch, (Lit: Death Society)Manda'yaim - n. the planet of Mandalore (Literally: "home of the Manda")
Manda'lase - n. mandalorian space
Mesh'la - adj. beautiful
Mhi - pron. We
Mhi gar hukaat'kama - "We['ve] got your back"
mirshmure'cya - Keldabe Kiss - slang for "head butt" (Lit. "Brain kiss")
Morut'yc - adj. safe, secureNarir - v. to act, to do, to put
Nayc - no (negative answer)
Ni - pron. I/me
Nu draar - No way. Absolutely not. Never in a million years. Not on your life. (Emphatic disagreement and doubt. Lit: Not never. Mandos use double negatives for emphasis.)Or'dinii - n. fool, moron; plural: or'dinii'se
Ori'ramikad - n. supercommando; Mandalorian designation of elite special forces; plural: ori'ramikad'e
Osik - n. dung (impolite)Riduur - n. spouse/lover; plural: riduur'e
Riduurok - n. marriage ceremony consisting of four phrases/promises/vowsShabuir - n. jerk, but much stronger; extreme insult; plural: shabuir'e
Su cuy'gar - Hello (Literally: "You're still alive."); can be shortened to su'cuy, which equates to an informal 'Hi'
Suvarir - v. to understandTion gar jahaala - "Are you well?"Udesii - "Calm down," or "Take it easy."
Uj'ayl - n. thick scented syrup used in cooking
Utreekov'la - adj. fool, idiot (Literally: empty headed)Ver'alor - n. lieutenant
Verd - n. soldier, warrior; plural: verd'e
Vod - n. gender neutral word for brother/sister; plural: vod'e
Vod'ika - n. little brother/sister; plural: vod'ike