Archive of Our Own

You had met him and the rest of the batch on Kamino, working under Master Jedi Shaaki Ti as one of the medical team. It was her who had signed you up to work with Clone Force 99 and although you all seemed reluctant, it was the best thing to ever happen.

There was no mistaking that Tech had found you attractive, every one of his brothers did and it didn’t help that you were also incredibly kind-hearted and funny. You were patient but brutally honest when you had to be and most of all? You listened to him.

It was a calm day for the Batch, relaxing on the sands of Tatooine and waiting for the next set of missions to come fire their way and Tech was doing his typical daily repairs. However, he ran into a small problem with one of the compartments under the control panel that controls the reflector shields and needed an assistant.

You just so happened to be walking past and glance in his way to see the harsh concentration grace his sharp features. “Everything alright, Tech?”

Glancing up from under the panel upon hearing the sound of the voice, an idea popped into his mind. “Ah! I don’t suppose you could spare a minute or two and assist me with some general repairs?”

“Are you sure? I’m not exactly good at that kind of stuff.” It’s not that you did not want to help but the thought of possibly accidentally breaking something triggered in your mind. It wasn’t until Tech said that you only had to hold some wires and maybe pass him some tools that finally convinced you to help.

“Well, okay then. Let me just take my jacket off and I’ll come under.”

“Not a problem, I can wait.” Tech confirmed by pulling himself back under the panel, laying on the flat piece of his armour on his back and awaited your return.

When you did, the top half of your body only sported a vest top since the ship was hotter than usual (obviously because of the planet and obviously because Wrecker had accidentally broken the cooling system… another task for another day) and got on your knees beside him.

“Alright I’m ready! Can I come under?”

Tech made a noise of what could only be a grunt of approval, slightly shifting more to his left to give you some room as you lay on your back and shimmied your way up beside him. “Okay sir, what would you like me to do?”

Your formal address to him made him chuckle in amusement. “Please, you do not need to call me such formalities as I am nothing more than your teammate. But, I would like you to hold onto this yellow wire whilst I calibrate the circuit board just here.”

Subtly, you rolled your eyes at Tech’s correction to the nickname you gave him but nonetheless took the yellow between your fingers and watched him tinker away.

As you watched him, your eyes traveled down to spot the side of his face, small beads of sweat trickling down from his temple. His face remained set in concentration, jaw clenching and slightly gritting his teeth.

Safe to say that if you were wearing something with a collar, you'd be hot underneath it.

Out of all the members of the Batch, you were probably closest to Tech and but that has unfortunately led to you feeling some kind of way around him. You tried to brush it off as a little crush but the more he taught you, spoke to you… it was definitely more than a little crush.

You tore your eyes away once he asked for the wire back and as you passed the wire towards him, his gloved fingers wrapped around your index finger accidentally causing Tech to gasp and pull back quickly.

Eyes widening a little at his reaction, the first thought that came to mind was that he had an electric shock of some kind.

“Tech, what was that? You okay?” You asked quickly, shifting a little on your side to look at him better as he inspected his fingers closely after dropping his spanner onto his chest.

“I am not too sure what it was but I can assure you that I am alright and you should not be alarmed.” He said simply but on the inside, his blood was boiling and his heart was racing.

He didn’t want to panic you further and he also didn’t want to stop half-way through his current task and so pushed the foreign feeling to the side and picked up the wire and tool once more and got back to it.

You however were still thinking about his reaction and how casually he had dismissed it but you knew better than to bring it up when he’s working. instead, you watch him busy himself again until you’re needed.

A few minutes passed and even though you did not ask, he saw no harm in telling you what it was he was doing whenever it came to him switching wires over, welding something back into place or whatnot. He never got the impression you got bored of him speaking. Asking for your help again, he requested for you to shine a torch into a small crook but this consisted of you brushing up beside him and that’s when Tech felt that sudden shot of heat again.

He grunts and you gave him a quizzical look but he said nothing, gritting his teeth as he focused on the task at hand despite the odd warmth you were providing.

“Forgive me,” he said after a short while, twirling a small tool around in his fingers as he prodded at the circuits, “but you are radiating a lot of heat right now and it’s quite hard for me to focus.”

Okay, his words kind of stung which was never his intention. “O-oh, I’m sorry.” You shift back to your right to give him some more space but Tech quickly snapped his head back in your direction.

“Why have you vacated more that way? I still need your help with holding the light.”

You raise a brow. “You told me that I was distracting you?”

Tech noted that what he said obviously came across as obnoxious and sucked on the inside of his cheek before saying, “That is true but I also didn’t mean I wanted to part from you. So if you’ll please…?” He then pats the spot back closer to him, a shy smile on his lips and you couldn’t help the smile that formed on your lips either.

You scooted right back next to him, keeping a little distance to not overwhelm him with the body heat you didn’t even realise you were projecting. You didn’t feel overly hot and you also weren't sweating. Odd.

So, you carried on helping Tech until you were both finally done around twenty minutes later.

“You reckon it’s all fixed?” You ask as you move out from under the panel, stretching out your arms and legs as Tech moves down from under the panel too, joining your side.

“If my calculations were correct and with your brilliant help,” you watch as he pulls his datapad from his belt and you were glad he looked down at it rather than at you as you burned red at his praise, “everything should be running smoothly. Albeit the heating.”

“That’s good. Thanks for also telling me about how to fix certain parts of the ship. Not a clue what we’d do without you, Tech.” Now it was his time to gush a little at your words and he ducks his head lower into his datapad, pushing his goggles up the bridge of his nose.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to fix the ship now without me.”

“Doubt it!” You scoff with a small laugh, you’re too valuable in this squad to let someone like me fix your ship.”

“Well…” he thinks for a moment, unsure what to say to your incoming compliments but his eyes travel over your body for a moment, eyes landing on the soft skin of your bare arms that made his mouth ever so slightly salivate. Have you always looked this… good? Slightly disheveled from being under a warm and sweaty console for just under an hour? Obviously he thought you were attractive before but now? He was unsure how to feel.

“What are you looking at, Tech?”

His eyes snapped wide, not even realising he was staring at you until you had addressed him. “A-ah, nothing.” Then he thought about the sudden feeling he got from you under the console. “But, I do want to conduct an experiment. If you’ll allow me to?”

There was a subtleness of nervousness radiating off Tech that you noticed; something that was rarely shown. But, you nodded.

“Sure. What is it?”

Tech hesitated a moment just in case you would turn around and punch him in the throat but he requested you to take off your glove and so you did without a question and then watched as Tech slowly, and unsure if it was the trick of the light, shakily removed his own.

“Just a little curious. Allow me?” He extends his hand out to you, a silent invitation.

You looked at his hand, then at him and back to his hand before reluctantly placing your hand into his and watched as his whole body shuddered, eyes fluttering closed and hearing his breath hitch in his throat.

But he said nothing. Nothing at all. Instead, his fingers closed around yours with his thumb trailing over the back of your hand.

All the air in your lungs seemed to be sucked out, watching with bewildered eyes as the intellectual clone faltered under just holding your hand. “What… what is it?” You asked eventually, watching as he opened his eyes behind his goggles.

His gaze was a little hazy but they soon widened a little as he realised that he was holding your hand. Your hand. And you hadn’t hit him yet.

There was no mistaking that when he held your hand that a rush of warmth coursed through his veins like a thousand suns shone down on him that very moment. His heart was racing and his racing mind was all over the place as his eyes trailed over your soft features.

“Well,” he clears his throat after a short while, “it appears that your touch is somewhat creating an unexplainable feeling for me. As you can see,” he then lifts his other arm to you, showing his vitals, “my heart rate has increased significantly by your touch alone.”

He goes to pull his hand back, thinking that this was possibly too much for you but you stop him by scooting just a little bit closer, your legs crossed and your knees bumping against his leg just a tad. “Oh. Is it a bad feeling?”

Tech’s mouth ran dry. “No. I think that I quite like… this.” He sighs softly as you turn his hand over and gently traced your fingers over his palm. His hands were surprisingly soft despite how worn they appeared from all his hard work and craft. They were well kept and you trail a finger along the lines in his skin.

He lets out a soft gasp, shuddering at the sensation and you paused, looking back up at him. “Do you want me to stop?” Your voice was so gentle, music to his ears.

“No. It is just a peculiar feeling for me as I have never had someone-.” He goes to carry on but cuts himself short, cheeks reddening a little at his almost confession. You, however, coaxed him into telling you by gently digging your fingers into his hand, a gentle hint of reassurance in the form of a massage.

“Never, what?”

“I have never had someone have this effect on me. If you were to pull away now, I only fear that I will crave more of your touch.” He admits, a small hint of a plea that he didn’t want to let go nor wanted you to let him go.

You hummed, finally understanding what the issue - if you could call it that - was.

“So, you’re touch starved?” You question, a warm feeling flaring inside you as Tech moved just a little closer to you so you were side by side with your arms touching whilst you continued to caress his hand.

Tech blinked. “I am unfamiliar with that term.”

“It means that you’ve not really had a lot of affection from others. So me doing this,” you indicate to your hands that were now interlocked with each other, “has made you feel, dare I say it, a little soft? Needy?”

Tech pushed his goggles up the bridge of his nose, cheeks turning a slight crimson colour. “I see. I suppose that would explain why I am not wanting to let go. Well, and another thing.”

Your ears perked at this. “Another thing…?” You nudged him to continue and that’s when he went more quiet than usual. You studied his reaction, watching him glance away from you but his hold on your hand tightened just a touch. You knew.

Almost leaping for joy, discovering that Tech may like you just as you liked him, you could have sworn that he leaned a little towards you whilst looking at your lips. As if a string pulled you both closer, both of your breaths became heavy from nerves and the exciting possibility of what could happen next.

You didn’t realise at first until you felt a gentle squeeze on your left hand that Tech had brought both of your hands into his, your hands emanating a surreal heat he had never felt before.

Was this what it was like to be shown affection? Your insides flipping, boiling and tingling wonderfully all at the same time? Tech would definitely do his research but he was soon cut off when he noticed that your face was inches from his, minted breath wafting his nostrils.

You were so close to him that your eyes drifted closed, Tech’s mind clustered with thoughts on how to possibly kiss you but let his conscience guide him.

“Tech!”

You both jump far away from one another, eyes wide as you pretend to be doing something else whilst Tech glared at the cockpit door as Wrecker comes stumbling up to the front, completely unaware of what he just ruined.

“What is it, Wrecker?” Tech sighed as he tried to show that his heart rate wasn’t through the ship's roof meanwhile you fumbled around cluelessly with putting the tools back.

“I need a med-patch.”

“You already used the last one yesterday.” Tech mumbled, pulling himself up to his feet.

“Gah!” Wrecker sighed, rubbing the side of his arm which is when you looked up at the brute of a soldier with a heart of gold.

“I’ll help you out.” You go to stand but Tech has instantly stuck his hand down towards you. You gave him a slight smug look, one Wrecker couldn’t see as you gently slipped your hand into his, watching him physically melt under the touch before hoisting yourself up.

Purposely or not (you decide) you fall into his chest, arms wrapping around the back of his neck for ‘support’.

He stumbled, tips of his ears burning at the close proximity of your chest against his but listens as you laughed it off. “Oops! Sorry Tech.” You grin, patting his shoulder to make it look not suspicious in front of Wrecker.

However, you did lean into him a little as you moved around him and lowered your voice into a whisper. “Meet me at my bunk later tonight?”

Tech felt his chest tighten and he nodded his head quickly, hands that had slipped to your waist being removed as you left the cockpit with Wrecker.

What an interesting morning it turned out to be.

————————

When the evening rolled around, Tech sat in the cockpit chair with his face glued to his holopad and in fact researching the terminology of being touch starved. Surprisingly, some forums opened up and he read through them as others came to the holonet to question this. He was glad to see it wasn’t just him who experienced this.

Then, there was your request. He waited a while longer as the others said they wanted to go explore Tattooines nightlife. You had already ‘turned in’ and he made up the excuse that he wasn’t overly happy with how the hyperdrive had been performing.

Knowing it was just the two of you left on the ship, Tech had stood and unclipped the top half of his armour to get comfortable before he made his way towards your bunk.

As expected, you were there sitting on the edge of your bunk cleaning a weapon you owned and glance up upon hearing him clear his throat.

“Tech.” You greet him with a soft smile, standing to your feet and stuffing your hands into the pockets of your pants.

He replies with your name and shifted awkwardly in his spot, “any reason why you wanted to see me?”

You smirk a little and raise a brow. “I just thought we could talk a little more is all… unless you wanted to do something else?”

Tech inhaled a sharp breath and straightened out his posture, hands down to his sides before taking a step towards you. “Instead of talking, what else did you have in mind?” He enquires, again pushing his goggles up the bridge of his blushed nose.

Humouring him, you take a small step towards him, swaying a little in your movement. “Oh I don’t know… I quite liked what we were doing earlier.”

“Do I have permission to touch you?” He asked instantly, making you jump a little at his abrupt eagerness. He cursed internally at his boldness, feeling a little sheepish but you relaxed him with a laugh and nod.

“Yes, you have permission to touch me. Or hug me, even.”

Tech bit his lip and nodded his head. You watched as he opened his arms towards you, a little awkward but you did him the courtesy of practically jumping into his arms, arms wrapped around his shoulders whilst he embraced your waist and held you close.

Tech thought holding hands was good but this was behind another level. You were so close, the feeling of your increased heartbeat thumping away against your ribs and his chest. He rested his head on top of yours, closing his eyes as ecstasy engulfed him.

“You’re a good hugger.” You compliment bashfully after a few minutes, pulling away so you could look up at him and feeling your heart swell at the adorable blush on his skin.

“As are you, mesh’la.”

You gave him a confused look at the name. “What does that mean?”

“Would you like me to tell you?” He asks, a hand raising from your waist and to your cheek. The touch made you shiver but regardless, you leaned into him.

“Y-yes please.” You sigh softly, feeling as light as air under his touch. Maybe you were just as touch starved as he was.

“Or…” he trails off, unsure whether or not to take the plunge or not but if he had read the situation correctly, he may as well, “or I could show you.”

All it took was a little nod of your head for Tech to lean down and capture his lips with yours. You hummed upon the impact, eyes still open as you watched his tightly knit shut but slowly closed as you felt him begin to move his lips against yours.

Cupping your jaw, your fingers trail along the short tassels of hair at the back of his neck and gasped as he backed you up slightly against the wall.

Your gasp startled him, eyes opening with worry if he took it too far and pulls away. “Is this okay?”

You answer him by kissing his lips again. “Just unexpected. Keep kissing me Tech.” You breathe softly against him and he did just that.