Work Text:
Fox sighs, staring at the document that’s been giving him a headache for the last three hours. A Senator wants him to hunt down a piece of legislation regarding parking at the senate building.
It doesn’t matter that he knows Republic Law inside and out, and that he’s sent every single piece of legislation and rule that even remotely relates to speeders or parking or the rotunda; he must’ve missed something.
He hasn’t, but the Senator insists that the one very specific piece he wants is the one he’s not yet found, or is actively withholding. If Fox were closer to snapping at the Senator in anger, he would cite the very niche Law of ‘not bothering government workers excessively lest you be banned from further interaction due to potentially obstructing or delaying vital planetary workings.’
Luckily for this Senator, Fox was able to get a solid five hours sleep last night, and has been in a remarkably good mood. That is, in comparison to his usual mood, made up of stress, frustration, exhaustion, and a decent amount of spite.
He needs a damn holiday, but none exists for him. What he does have, however, is another Commander who’s also in a good mood after having successfully gotten him to sleep last night, and has been exceptionally cheerful all morning.
“Hey Fox!” Speak of the devil.
“What?”
“You will not believe what Amidala and Chuchi were doing in their office!” Thorn is grinning, helmet under his arm, and his eyes are wide in pure and innocent delight. He’s entering the room, the door shutting and locking behind him, which commonly would have Fox sitting up in alertness, but this time he can tell it’s nothing serious.
“Don’t keep it to yourself, vod, please share your news,” he replies, pushing the datapad aside and resolutely pushing all things Law from his mind for now.
Thorn giggles, kriffing giggles, and saunters over to stand on the other side of his desk.
“Okay, so I walked in to Chuchi’s office to deliver the escort security detail documents for her trip in three days, and both she and Amidala were dancing!” Of all the words Thorn could’ve strung together, these are not the ones he anticipated.
He tries to imagine it, both Senators wearing floor length outfits and performing grand twirls with said outfits flaring out, looking very regal and graceful. It’s a nice mental image, and one that might carry him through the week.
However-
“Please tell me you have a recording of this,” he sighs, close to begging, but not crossing that boundary.
“Fox, have you so little faith?” Thorn grins and pulls up a small holo puck. It lights up and Fox is given the fantastic visual that is completely different from what he imagined.
Instead of graceful and twirly dances, this looks so much more like the popular modern dances he sees dancers do in clubs and public areas with friends.
A lot of jumping, erratic spinning, organised flailing of arms and a bit of kicking. The two respectable Senators are doing it all, and keeping fairy synchronised, but what really catches his attention is the sheer joy on their faces.
It looks…fun.
Thorn is looking extremely amused by it, head bobbing along slightly to the music that’s playing faintly, almost hidden behind their laughter. Laughter that reminds him they’re more than just uptight politicians.
Fox finds he almost longs for that carefree feeling. Something Natborns can just do, without worry, while he and his men have to work around the clock.
Wait.
“Hey Thorn,” he says, eyes pulling away from the holo to look at his best friend’s face. There’s joy in his eyes.
“Yeah?” Thorn asks, also looking away from the holo to make eye contact.
There’s a few beats of silence.
“I bet we can do better than them.”
Thorn’s smile lights up the room.
It took a bit of time for Thorn to find the original dance, but he finally found a holo that was clear enough for them to mimic, and makes the female dancer life-sized instead of palm-sized.
Fox double checks the door is locked, wanting to have fun but not needing anyone coming in and gaining blackmail on him. His boys might be kind, but if his Batchmates hear about it? They’d never leave him alone.
Thorn plays the recording to test it, and as it plays, they clear enough room to move around in, and settle into a comfortable position.
It loops around again, and while Thorn immediately jumps into trying to replicate all the moves with great enthusiasm, Fox chooses to simply watch, hands twitching at his sides.
He does enjoy how happy Thorn is, arms swinging erratically and almost knocking him out on two occasions.
Once again the dance loops, and this time Fox follows her actions, slightly out of time, which Thorn shamelessly laughs at, his own arms still swinging out.
Another four loops later, he and Thorn have figured out the major moves of the dance, and it’s no longer only Thorn laughing. Fox’s cheeks haven’t hurt this much from laughing since…well, if he can’t remember then there’s no point dwelling on it.
As the chorus starts, he spins too early, which has Thorn howling in laughter, but he’s too gleeful to care, instead sticking with his move and making up another one to fill the gap and catch up with the actual dance.
Thorn thinks it’s great, and does some of his own deviating moves, all of which look ridiculous, such as a hair flip and a squat, but Fox just cackles at it, stopping in dancing entirely so he can clutch his knees, sides hurting from all the laughing.
His friend stops dancing, and a moment later they’re both crashing to the ground in giggles, the upbeat music playing in the background.
He’s on his back on the ground, and Thorn is half sprawled over him, hair freed from its restraints and getting into his mouth.
“This is,” he begins, when he can finally breathe again, “the most fun I think I’ve ever had.”
“Really? More fun than ’17 putting us through pursuit drills?” Thorn asks, lifting his head up. His hair goes with him, thankfully, so he can stop spitting the strands out.
He levels his friend with a deadpan glare.
“Alright, message received,” Thorn acquiesces, hands up in surrender, “but it was pretty fun. I’ve never seen you so relaxed or cheerful.”
With those words, Thorn is standing himself up, and pulling Fox with him. He’s got a grin that promises a system of trouble, and a gleam in his eye that says nothing about it will be dull.
“I propose we make this a weekly routine. The dancing, that is,” Thorn says, and Fox just stares.
He wants to say yes, right from his core he does. But the time he’s spent with it is time he has lost to all his work, putting him behind.
His eyes dart to his desk, and immediately Thorn is snapping his fingers in front of his face.
“Listen, it doesn’t have to be for as long as it was today, but it’ll be something to look forward to, and to get your mind off work. Think about it, how much better do you feel already?” His friend asks, that gleam still in his eye as he leans forward and stares at him, waiting for his answer.
Guess his excuse is pretty weak, when he looks back at it. Does he really want to put misery before a bit of joy?
What was it he heard a Senator say? ‘A happy work environment is a productive work environment’?
“Well, when you twist my arm like that,” he sighs in defeat, more to be a nuisance than anything. Both of them know he’s all for the idea.
Thorn’s grin widens, and Fox receives a hearty slap on the shoulder.
“Excellent! Now, time to get some food into you and send you on your way,” Thorn says, marching over to their office’s mini fridge and pulling out a half-empty plate of assorted fruits that one of the aides gave to the Commanders a few days ago.
Never before has Fox had such an appetite, but the plate is fully cleaned by the pair of them, and when he goes back to doing his work, it’s with a remarkably lower level of stress, and a dampened desire to murder the Parking Senator.
He spends the rest of the afternoon humming the song under his breath, head bobbing along and body swaying as he blitzes through his paperwork.
Yeah, he’d enjoy having some ‘dance time’ once a week.