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Breaking the Code	By : rabbitwriter Category: Star Wars (All) > Slash - Male/Male Views: 4509 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
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“I don’t know, sir,” Korbin hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and eyed the swirling water skeptically. “I think I’ve had enough of water.”

“Have you ever seen water in any form other than 'torrential downpour'?” the dark-haired Jedi next to the ARC captain insisted gently.

“No,” Korbin admitted mulishly after a moment; he hated it when Kian made one of his “good points”.

“So you have not, in fact, ever encountered a bath before?”

Korbin glanced slyly out of the corner of his eye and caught who was quite arguably his best friend trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile. The ARC’s lips curled down in a frown, but it was mostly for show. It was hard to be angry with Kian; the green-eyed Corellian Jedi was a playful man by nature and his good-natured ribbing was exactly that - good natured.

“I wouldn’t know what it was if it bit me, sir,” Korbin’s tone was rather acidic, but it only served to widen the smile on Kian’s slightly narrow face.

“Well, you’ll be glad to know that a bath is nothing to worry about,” Kian reached up and clapped a hand against Korbin’s shoulder; the clone winced a little and the Jedi’s face twisted apologetically.

“Sorry,” the hand on Korbin’s shoulder softened immediately and strong fingers gently smoothed the uniform that stretched taunt across the ARC’s broad back. “I guess I get a little careless in my enthusiasm.”

“Is a bath really something to get that excited about?” Korbin growled in an attempt to hide his suddenly conflicted reaction.

Pain flared across his back - which certainly made him cranky. But, the feel of Kian’s hands drifting across his back was...nice. The Jedi healer’s touch made Korbin’s skin prickle underneath his uniform; the ARC had no idea why he would have such a reaction to another man’s touch, since he had been touched by healers and medics and the likes before without any sort of physical reaction.

But, there had always been something...different...about Kian. It always surprised Korbin by how close the two of them were. Somewhere, Korbin had heard the term “brothers by choice”, when describing a close friendship between a clone and a non-clone. It wasn’t a common occurrence, but he had heard of it happening form time to time, mostly between a clone and another non-clone combatant. Korbin hadn’t ever heard of it happening between a clone and a Jedi - but, well, Kian was quite exceptional that way.

Korbin figured that maybe it had something to do with him being Corellian. Kian seemed to find great delight in laughing in the face of the Order’s conventions. The two had become fast friends during a training program that had taken Korbin from Kamino to the Jedi Temple. Korbin stayed in training at the Temple for only four months, but his sparring partner had been the green-eyed, quick-witted, smooth-talking Padawan Tharen. Korbin hadn’t been able to resist the commander’s charisma, though Kian proved to be a better healer than he was a sparring partner.

The War had eventually forced them to part ways and they had only just met up again. Korbin hadn’t heard from his old sparring partner after he had left the Temple, though he had heard of Kian’s Knighting. A part of the ARC - which the War was rapidly jading beyond any hope or salvation - had expected to find Kian changed by his elevation in rank.

But, on the muddy battlefield of watery Jabiim, Korbin had met a man no different than the boy he had left behind at the Temple. Kian’s green eyes were as mischievous as ever, his smile as infectious, his good humor still very much in tact. In fact, the only thing that had changed about Kian was his fighting - the Jedi had improved, no doubt forced by the atrocities of a War that challenged even the best to stay alive.

Korbin had been drawn in by Kian’s easy-going personality - the Jedi was hard to resist, really. It was easy to call him friend; easy to confide in him; easy to love him...

The ARC blinked and shook his head, forcing himself to return to the present. “Love.” That was a dangerous road to follow. He reminded himself for the thousandth time since meeting Kian again on Jabiim, that he did not, in fact, love the Jedi. He admired him, to be sure. He certainly respected him. And he definitely had a strong affection for the other man - as a friend, of course.

Only as a friend.

“Korbin?” Kian - as always - seemed to sense Korbin’s moods and the Force Sensitive clone could feel his friend nudge cautiously against the edges of his mind.

“Sorry,” the ARC shook his head and cleared his throat, not quite looking Kian in the eye. “Kinda’ drifted off there for a moment.”

“You’ve been doing that quite a lot lately,” Kian’s voice was wry; Korbin fought the urge to fidget underneath the Jedi’s gentle hand. “Makes me wonder if there’s a head injury I should know about.”

The hand that had been resting on Korbin’s shoulder now reached up and brushed against the side of his head. The ARC didn’t mean to be abrupt, but the feel of Kian’s fingers drifting so closely to his scalp sent a jolt of electric sensation through his body. The clone reached up swiftly and grabbed Kian’s hand as he leaned his head out of the Jedi’s reach.

“I’m okay, sir,” his voice was a little more gruff than he intended and he thought he saw something like disappointment flash through Kian’s emerald eyes. “Really, I promise,” the ARC offered a brief smile in hopes of putting one back on the Jedi’s face. “You don’t have to fuss so much.”

“Of course I do,” Kian huffed, as if Korbin had just insulted him; the Jedi’s eyebrows knit together for a moment, as his lips curved down in a slight frown. “If I don’t, who will?”

“I’m just a clone, sir -” Korbin tried to offer the standard rebuff, but Kian wasn’t having any of it.

“Nonsense,” the Jedi startled the ARC into silence as he reached around and boldly unbuckled the clone’s uniform belt. “You’re a man. A man who has sustained considerable physical and psychological trauma, and who more than deserves the opportunity to relax in a nice salt bath.”

“Uh...sir?” Korbin felt his mouth go dry as his belt hit the floor and Kian’s nimble fingers began an intricate dance over the line of buttons along the side of the clone’s uniform tunic.

“Yes, Captain?” Kian arched an eyebrow as he met Korbin’s gaze; the use of the ARC’s rank was an odd juxtaposition to the reality of what the Jedi was doing.

“Um...is there a reason you’re undressing me...?” Korbin looked down and couldn’t stop himself from wondering what those hands would feel like against his naked skin.

He had felt Korbin’s hands against his skin before - after all, he was an ARC captain with a propensity for getting hurt and Kian was a Jedi healer who’s job it was to keep clones like him in perfect fighting form. But...those touches had always been...clinical. Korbin had realized a while ago, on Jabiim, that he didn’t want clinical. He was just now getting around to admitting that truth to himself

“Well, you don’t seem to be in a rush to get in that bathtub there,” Kian paused for a moment and lifted his hand from Korbin’s chest.

The ARC felt the loss of contact deeply, but he tried not to show his disappointment. The Jedi motioned toward the magnificent, sunken, marble bathtub in front of them and at the gently moving, softly steaming, green-tinted water that beckoned in warm welcome for Korbin’s naked body.

“And as a duly appointed Jedi healer, I think a good soak is exactly what you need after a month on Jabiim and three weeks on a medship,” Kian put his hands on his hips and gave Korbin a saucy look. “My professional opinion is, you’re not getting naked fast enough.”

Korbin swallowed hard at the Jedi’s words and he felt his eyes grow a little big at Kian’s unexpected pushiness. Of course, he had seen Kian get far more assertive than he was at the current moment - when lives hung in the balance, the Jedi didn’t spare a single thought for social graces. But, somehow the dynamic shifted when it was just the two of them alone in an Alderaanian noble’s guest suite. Kian’s command seemed much more...personal. Korbin was sure he was imagining it, but for a moment he wondered at the Jedi’s seeming eagerness to see him strip.

“You know, Korbin,” Kian’s voice softened dangerously and Korbin knew instinctively that something of his own thoughts had been perceived by his Jedi companion.

He felt something like panic rise up inside of him - it was hard for him to remember, sometimes, that Kian wasn’t another brother. The Jedi was so casual, so easy to be around...that Korbin often found himself forgetting that he was in the company of a trained Force user. Not just another Force Sensitive like himself...but one who had actually been trained since his youngest youngling years to pick up on the emotions and thoughts of others.

“I’ve wondered since you got here, why you would volunteer to keep me escort on a planet like Alderaan. We’re far from the fighting - and this is a diplomatic mission. Hardly the type of place for a battle-hardened ARC, don’t you think?” Kian raised a dark eyebrow and Korbin felt his fists clench at his side.

Kian knew. The clone swallowed - hard.

“Take it up with General Zey, sir,” Korbin shrugged and feigned his usual arrogance. “I haven’t been cleared for full duty just yet, but I was driving everyone at Special Operations Brigade HQ ‘up a bloody wall’, to quote Captain Maze.”

Everything Korbin said was true - what he didn’t say was that he hadn’t discouraged said Captain Maze’s recommendation that he get sent on a “nice, quiet diplomatic mission” while he finished recuperating from Jabiim’s brutality. He also didn’t add that he had subtly influenced General Zey into assigning him to Kian on his post-Jabiim mission to Alderaan.

The Alderaanians had been instrumental in trying to manage the diplomatic side of the battle, so it was only natural that the Jedi send a contingent to Aldera in the aftermath of what was quite possibly the bloodiest battle yet in the history of the War. There were many aspects of the battle to discuss and many diplomatic errors to be corrected - or, at least, to be agreed upon as ineffective - so several of the Jedi who had participated in the battle had been called to Alderaan in an attempt to determine if there was anything from Jabiim that could be salvaged diplomatically. One of the Jedi picked had been Kian - who had earned a name for himself for his humanitarian aid of not only clones and Republic Forces, but captured and wounded Jabiimi Separatists as well.

If there was one Jedi who could smooth the waters of the post-battle diplomatic turmoil, it was the one standing right in front of Korbin with his eyebrows arched almost completely into his hairline.

“You were sent here because you were driving Captain Maze crazy?” Kian wasn’t buying it and Korbin had to fight down a sense of emotional dismay.

“Something like that,” Korbin replied evasively.

He could see that Kian wasn’t impressed. The Jedi pursed his lips and for a moment, captain and general considered each other thoughtfully. Finally, Kian shook his head and sighed; Korbin was surprised to hear a note of disappointment in the Jedi’s voice.

“Just finish undressing and get in the water, will you?” Kian finally stepped away from Korbin and the clone didn’t know whether to feel relieved or distressed. “I’m going to go get a few things,” the Jedi paused at the door and looked over his shoulder with a look that Korbin couldn’t quite read. “I’ll be back in a minute to look over your injuries, if that’s all right? I noticed at dinner that you’re favoring your left leg.”

“Thank you, sir,” the words stuck in his throat, but Korbin managed to get them out.

What he didn’t manage was to look Kian fully in the eye. The door slid softly shut moments later, though, and Korbin closed his eyes with a soft groan.

His Jedi officer wanted him to sit - naked - in a gigantic bathtub full of nicely scented water, while he “looked over” his injuries. Korbin was fairly certain his body would betray him - he didn’t think that he could tolerate the touch of Kian’s hands on his skin. Not like this, anyway. Not alone, in a suite they currently shared, away from the usual death, mayhem, and destruction.

For the first time, Korbin had a chance to acknowledge the feelings that had taken seed the first time he had met Kian in the Temple’s Room of a Thousand Fountains. He could still see the way the Coruscanti sun glinted off of Kian’s long, sleek hair...

He’d had it bad for the Jedi ever since. Korbin finished disrobing himself in a rather mechanical fashion, his mind wandering elsewhere as he stared absently at the waiting water. Kian had admired Kian’s personality - his friendliness, his independence, his honor, his compassion. He’d see his friend fight and heal in the muddiest, bloodiest battle of the War; he had shared meals with Kian and in the course of the miserable month they spent on Jabiim, they had even slept huddled together in an effort to find some warmth and comfort.

It was that night that Kian had spent laying next to him, that haunted Korbin the most. He remembered the Jedi’s slender - if muddy - form curled up next to his armored bulk. Kian talked in his sleep and had thrashed under the influence of several nightmares. Korbin had finally been forced to wrap his arms around the healer in an attempt to calm him long enough so he himself could get some sleep. The ARC had woken up in the early morning hours possessed by a feeling he had never encountered before - something like tenderness and longing had gripped him, as he had opened his eyes and looked down on the sleeping Jedi who had thrown his leg over his and was snoring on top of his chest plate.

Korbin had extricated himself from what could have been a highly awkward position if Kian had woken up. But, the sight of the Jedi in his arms had stayed with him ever since. It was reaching a point that Korbin couldn’t deny much longer -

He did love Kian. A man. A Jedi. A superior.

None of that mattered to Korbin. He had shared the truth of his Force Sensitivity with Kian on the battlefields of Jabiim. He had shared his food, his warmth, his trust. Kian had never asked for anything else in return, but he had offered his friendship without question, without constraint. Kian had patched Korbin up more times than the ARC already cared to count; the Jedi had covered for him, fought with him, even saved him on one harrowing occasion.

They worked well together - they had gained a reputation as a capable, dependable team. Korbin studied the bath that Korbin had drawn for him and couldn’t help wondering...

He did he dare take that team and change it? Did he dare hope for something more, something...

Forbidden, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time. It’s against Kian’s rules and yours. Don’t go there, ARC. Don’t you dare go there.
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Breaking the Code