ognat

‘ fives? ‘

he’d been about two drinks in and already considering packing it back to base for the night - there’s just a certain something missing, without some of the white noise of the five-oh-first’s chatter in the background, without echo by his side. he only ever appreciates how nice it is that cody usually sends them on missions as a unit when one of them is off on their own.

even the two-twelfth is mostly absent - there’s one company on coruscant in their orange, but it isn’t ghost company, and most of them are in recovery or restocking the ship. he can’t think who in 79s right now would be calling out for him - especially in that tone, the sort of rise to their voice that denoted incredulity.

still, he turns on his stool, eyebrow raised, scanning the crowd for a familiar face. ( rather - a familiar variation of an even more familiar face, given who the crowd consisted of. )

‘ fives, holy s***. ‘

he almost jumps out of his kama - at some point, someone had slid into the stool next to him. he exhales, dropping his hand from where it had jumped to where his pistol would usually settle and running it through his hair.

huh. it’s another arc trooper - about his generation, if he had to guess, in orange and grey. he has a kama decorated to look like sunspots, curls just falling short of his shoulders, and a scar pulling one side of his mouth into an odd little half smile - one that looked as though it was almost twisted with wonder, looking at fives. ‘ drinks on me, ‘ he tells fives, waving distractedly to the bartender.

‘ thanks, vod, ‘ fives replies, as casually as he can make it, propping his elbow on the bar to try and distract from the way he had no idea who this brother was, save for the prickling of deja vu at the back of his mind.

something about the blank he was drawing must be showing on his face, because the 212th arc trooper’s expression softens a little, tapping his knuckles on the bartop by fives’ hand sympathetically. ‘ we used to be in the same training platoon, under el-les and bric. you were domino squad, we were in bravo. ‘

he blinks, and then it finally clicks.

both of them have changed quite a bit in appearance since the days of standard cuts, matching cadet tunics, and ink-free faces. ‘ holy s***, 447? ‘ now that he peered closer, some things were clear enough he felt like an idiot for not seeing them sooner - the tiny chip in his left canine from one of the inter-squad sparring matches that echo had given him, the odd spray of freckles running from his nose up to his ear, the way his nose wrinkles when he smiles.

the bartender slides the two of them their drinks, and the other arc trooper - 447 - raises his glass, tipping it in fives’ direction with a little grin. ‘ ognat, now, actually. ‘ he tilts his cup back and forth in his hands, takes a sip. ‘ and, uh - ‘ he looks down, curls falling into his face, flash of a grin barely visible through them, in a rare moment of bashfulness fives wouldn’t’ve associated with his platoon-mate. ‘ your sister? ‘

fives blinks, considers that, and grins in return. he slaps 447 hard on the back, sending her pauldrons rattling and her drink nearly spilling over the edge of her glass. ‘ well, kriff me! no wonder i didn’t recognize you, if i’d been looking for a brother. ‘

he takes a sip of his own drink without really looking down at it. ‘ s***. it’s been . . . awhile since i’d thought about the rest of our platoon. ‘ he feels guilty saying it, realizing it’s true as it rolls off his tongue. there’d been twenty of them in total - ankkox, crimson, and of course - bravo and domino.

domino and part of ankkox squad had both been sent to the rishi moon base, though three of ankkox had been sent directly to the front - they’d had engineer training, and that was in high demand. nub and 327 went with domino. at some point, maybe on rishi, maybe in the aftermath, fives had just stopped thinking about what happened to the rest of his old training platoon.

‘ no, i get that, ‘ ognat muses, leaning her weight on one elbow on the bar. ‘ we got sent straight up to the front to bolster some of the 212th’s losses from christophsis. commander cody didn’t stick us right with the frontliners at the start, but it was still . . . ‘ she hesitates, takes a long draft from her drink, before finally looking at him, her dark eyes searching, somber. ‘ it’s not really anything like training, is it? ‘

fives exhales. thinks about the sterility of their training environments, dangerous as they could be, and then about cutup, and the crunch of armor and bone as he’d been killed away from anything like combat. ‘ no, ‘ he agrees, a little grimly. ‘ it’s not. ‘ he taps his glass with one fingernail, looks over her shoulder. ‘ how’s the rest of bravo squad holding up, then? are they . . . ‘

already, she’s shaking her head. ‘ no, don’t worry. there’s three of us still standing. ‘ that scar-warped side of her mouth twists up in a flash of a tiny smile. ‘ none of the others made arc, though. twist’s still rank-and-file, and he’s . . . ‘ she exhales. ‘ he’s not happy about it, i’ll be honest with you. all of us wanted to make arc one day. it’s made things a little patchy between us. dorne . . . dorne’s just glad he’s alive. cody saved him by shifting him to soft-shell duty after his injuries and he’s . . . he seems happy, there. ‘ she tips her glass in his direction. ‘ what about you? how’re the other dominoes doing? ‘

fives shrugs. ‘ just echo and me left. they’re calling us the domino twins now. ‘

‘ both of you arcs? ‘

‘ both arcs, ‘ he confirms, and, like he’d never admit he feels every time someone refers to him as arc trooper fives, a beam of pride flames up between his ribs.

she whistles appreciatively. ‘ damn. always knew you guys’d make it. ‘

fives snorts. even domino squad themselves hadn’t been sure they’d make it off kamino, let alone all the way to arc trooper. believed they should get to be, certainly - realistically expected to? not at all. ‘ shut the f*** up. no you didn’t. ‘

‘ no, i didn’t, ‘ she replies cheerfully, ‘ but it seemed like the right thing to say in the moment, right? ‘

he can’t really find it in himself to hold onto any hostility, looking at the way ognat’s nose crinkles up with her grin, just edging on self-satisfied at the way he rolls his eyes. he downs the rest of his drink, sliding the empty glass across the bar, and is about to wave for another one when ognat shakes her head. ‘ on me, i said. ‘

‘ feels like i owe you one at least for not recognizing you, ‘ he argues, but with no real weight to it.

she passes him his new drink. ‘ oh, you do, but not tonight. we’ll have to see each other again sometime, yeah? maybe with our wayward batchers in tow. could make it a real reunion. ‘

‘ i think i’d like that, ‘ fives says, and he finds himself meaning it. ‘ i’ll talk to echo about it. ‘

‘ the domino twins, ‘ she echoes, rubbing her thumbs over the rim of her glass. ‘ you know - it’s funny. didn’t get the sense you two were that close on kamino. ‘ she shrugs one shoulder, pauldron dipping. ‘ though maybe it got lost in all the bickering we did. ‘ she snorts once. ‘ manda, we were all a bunch of little shebs’palon’e. think the fact that bric managed to bring us all to graduation without snapping and beating half of us to death really speaks to his tender charms and level head. ‘

the bravo-domino rivalry hadn’t just been one-sided, then. it’s pretty juvenile of him to feel satisfaction about that, but the cadet in him has a distinct smugness.

‘ no, echo and i weren’t twins then, ‘ he says, gesturing with his glass. ‘ honestly, i wouldn’t even say you could call us that for sure until we were about halfway through alpha beating our shebs halfway into the manda. ‘ he thinks for a moment, ducks his head. ‘ shab, though. there was one thing - ‘ he shakes his head. ‘ you’re not going to believe this, but - i’d say the closest we got back then was right before we retook the test. the two of us got together and, uh. agreed to approach general ti to ask for a squad transfer together. ‘

she picks up on the unspoken part of that story immediately, all but crowing with delight. ‘ you two asked to join bravo? ‘

he waves a hand in her direction, feigning irritability. ‘ clearly we were out of our minds. ‘

‘ clearly, ‘ she responds, though her grin still splits across her face, still propped forwards in his direction. she sits back in her chair, smile softening a little. ‘ i think you might have ended up in the right place, ‘ she says. ‘ domino ended up with two arcs, after all - bravo’s just got the one. ‘ she tips her glass in his direction like she’s toasting him. ‘ guess el-les was right, thinking domino’d come out number one eventually. ‘

he exhales. ‘ domino’s only got two left, though, ‘ he says, voice soft, before he can manage to stop himself. distantly, he wonders if it’s the alcohol, or just - seeing someone, other than echo, who knew the rest of the dominoes. ‘ so i’d say that’s a win for bravo. ‘

her eyes meet his - soft, sad. it’s not pity. there’s brotherhood, to it - in the look that says i know how you feel, says i’ve lost brothers too, says we stand shoulder to shoulder out there. i won’t leave you behind. some things - so many things - are nothing like kamino. so many of them worse. but the one thing he thanks actual experience for is this - when cadet politics and spite fall away. when they’re simply brothers, domino or bravo.

they sit in quiet for a moment, but it doesn’t feel awkward. just comfortable.

finally, she bumps her bracer against his. ‘ let’s call it a draw, then, ‘ she says softly, and raises her glass, now almost empty.

fives nods once. he taps his against hers. ‘ draw, ‘ he agrees, and swallows the last of his drink.

he can’t just leave it at that, though, and he allows the solemnity of the moment to last a beat more before adding, with his own grin: ‘ for now. give it about a week and we’ll be lapping you. ‘

she cackles and punches him in the shoulder, hard enough that his bar stool wobbles for it. ‘ as if. domino dips**t. ‘

there are two kinds of hand-signs utilized only by those who have undergone arc trooper training. it’s believed that the alphas actually came up with them themselves, all the way back when they’d been cadets. the first are strictly tactical, to avoid enemies picking up on communications. the second kind are best translated as strings of obscenities. fives flips a healthy string of the latter in ognat’s direction now.

which reminds him, actually. ‘ hey, ognat. when’d you get your name, anyway? you were still just 447 when we graduated. ‘ a pause. ‘ and, uh - ‘

‘ what’s it mean? ‘ she guesses, eyebrows raised. she rubs one hand over her mouth, smile peeking from behind her fingers. ‘ it’s the stupidest story. ‘

in return, he just turns his barstool to face her, propping his chin on his hand.

she runs a hand through her curls. ‘ so - you’re 501st, you’ve worked with the 212th. you know migraine, right? ‘

‘ only by reputation. ‘ one of the 212th medics, migraine was famous for the time he had nearly concussed commander cody for flicking on the lights without giving fair warning. to hear half the boys in orange tell it, it wasn’t even spurred by conscious thought - his 212th hindbrain kicked in and he just charged the commander like a reek.

‘ that’s probably as close as you want to get, ‘ she says, and fives can’t tell for a moment whether it’s a joke or not. medics could be scary. ‘ he’s got a field test for head injury - he had, at least - where he asks you to spell a callsign backwards. rogue, foxtrot, delta, and so on. about our second battle in, i crack my skull. he pulls me out and - asks me to spell tango backwards. ‘ she spreads her hands. ‘ couldn’t do it. but i kept trying and trying, even as he sedated me. ‘ she chuckles. ‘ i don’t even really remember it, but after they took me out of bacta, apparently a couple hours later, i snapped awake and sat bolt upright, and just shouted ‘OSK-GREK-NERN-AUREK-TRILL. OGNAT. TANGO BACKWARDS. I F***ING TOLD YOU I COULD, MIGRAINE, ‘ triumphantly, before - ‘ and she rests one hand on top of the bar, crashing the other into it to emulate falling over. ‘ just stuck, you know? ‘

‘ your poor medic, ‘ fives muses, shaking his head solemnly. ‘ whatever they get paid, it’s not enough. ‘

‘ hey, coric, kix, and lifeline are some of your medics, right? ‘ ognat asks innocently. ‘ i should buy them a drink next time and see if they’ve got any stories about you. ‘

‘ i can’t believe you’d be willing to sell me out to the medics. my own platoon-mate. ‘

‘ yes you can, ‘ she replies cheerfully.

he considers it for only a moment. ‘ yeah, you’re right, i can. ‘

ognat looks as though she’s about to reply in turn, when a light begins to blink on her bracer. she curses under her breath, pulling out a holopad. ‘ i’m going to kill commander cody, ‘ she grumbles, under her breath in a way fives can’t help but grin at - it sounds like she might not have intended him to actually hear it. she clips her holopad onto her belt and stands, expression turning genuinely apologetic. ‘ i’ve got to head out, fives. it was good to see you again. ‘

she holds out one hand, and he takes it, clasping her arm above the bracer for a moment in a proper mando handshake, feeling her do the same. ‘ congratulations on making arc, ‘ she says. ‘ pass it on to echo for me, will you? i know we all really butted heads as cadets, but - i’m proud of you two, domino. ‘

‘ you too, ‘ he says, gripping her arm for a moment longer before finally letting go. he grins, suddenly, and punches her spaulder, remembering the joke droidbait had made, once. ‘ bravo for bravo squad, eh? ‘ a beat, as he considers. ‘ or. i guess i should say brava for bravo squad, huh? ‘

that gets a laugh out of her, and he’s able to sidestep - barely - the return punch she aims at his own spaulder. ‘ i guess you should. see you ‘round, fives. maybe cody’ll assign us together at some point, yeah? ‘ with that, she’s raising her hand once in farewell and striding towards the exit, her sunspot-patterned kama swaying.

fives watches her go until the door closes behind her, and turns back to the bar, waving for one more drink. he’s pulling his own holopad out before he even totally realizes what he’s doing.

echo’s still on-mission, for right now. force knows when he’ll get spots of comm service, or be able to reply. still, after a moment of thought, fives flips on the message recording function.

‘ hey, echo. missing you, vod. ‘