Chapter Text
Echo was walking back from the medbay after being cleared out by a somewhat mad Kix (but he definitely was mad, if the way he kept muttering di'kut and jetii in the same sentence while treating his instruments harshly is anything to go by) because of a stray blaster bolt. It hadn't been his fault he had been shot in the leg, that had been Fives' fault for getting out of his position. A harsh shove the other way had been enough to put him back in his place.
He enters the quarters he shares with his jetii ("Admit it Echo, you practically live there now," Fives taunts and his response is immediate, and always the same, "di'kutla..." and is always met with an indignant gasp) and takes off his bucket, putting it on the desk and stretching for a moment.
It was a pretty easy battle, so Echo doubts his vod'e are resting, and are probably doing shit in the barracks, or maybe eating. But right now Echo wants to see his cyar'ika, so he leaves their general Skywalker's quarters and goes to look for said man in question.
But the more he looks for him the more his determination crumbles like a bunch of petals falling from a wilted flower. He looked on the bridge, no general. 'Freshers, no general. The hangar might as well be considered empty, and he wasn't training. And none of his brothers or general were eating (the commander had been sent with general Kenobi for a diplomatic mission), so he went to the barracks. And before he even opened the door he knew his brothers and jetii were there. The animated talking and the loud voice of his general confirmed it.
When he entered, he understood why none of them were eating in the refectory (which had been a little shocking, considering that after a battle most of them went to eat, including said general). They were all eating inside the barracks, and not the foods they serve at the refectory (like vegetables, meat, grains, and things they should be eating), no.
They were eating varieties of soypro, frosty treats (there were too many of those, he'd have to speak to Anakin about that, too much sugar is not good, though, by the look on Rex's face, he must've already said sometime and got ignored, clearly), seaweed rolls, and more. There were also a lot of bags of different kinds of chips. It would surprise Echo the amount of food they have here (that they didn't get from the ship, mind you) if he hadn't known the planet Dantooine had been filled with shops and small food businesses run by farmers.
But none of that bothers him. In fact, he's glad his vod'e are having fun. But what's really upsetting him (gradually, not too fast, but not too slow) is that Anakin has a bag of... purple chips??? (Echo really doesn't know where that came from, he doesn't remember seeing anything purple aside from some flora) and it's upside down. Anakin is holding the bag from the bottom. He knows because the name of the chips in the bag is upside down.
And okay. Echo would consider himself pretty chill, not too picky (with certain things) and he lets his vod'e and cyar'ika get away with too many things. But this he cannot let him get away with. Anakin really isn't doing anything wrong holding the bag like that, people do it all the time. But it's Anakin we're talking about right now, not the rational Kenobi, not the semi-coolheaded Windu, and certainly not the fatherly Koon. Anakin has never not done anything stupid in his life. So, knowing Anakin, he will open the chips that way, and that's just a crime opening any kind of bag upside down.
So he gets closer to the group that consists of a smirking Fives (Bishwag, his mind says and he knows that Anakin is rubbing off on him in more ways than one.), a very done Rex, Jay, a shiny that joined them a month ago and already has his armor painted, and of course, a giddy Anakin. Seeing his Darling be that happy inevitably brings a smile to his face.
But still.
He walks up to them and settles on Anakin's side, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before nodding down to the bag of chips. "It would be greatly appreciated by me, cyar'ika, if you could open the bag of chips the right way."
A lot of people would find that stupid, but those people don't realize that they're the ones being stupid. It's just common sense not to open a bag of chips, hell any kind of bag, upside down. You just don't do it. It's just wrong in every way imaginable. First, because it looks horrible, bad, not good. Second, the bag's up and down wouldn't be identifiable if it was meant to be opened wherever. But they are identifiable, and there is a correct way to open a bag.
But Echo knows Anakin won't listen to him. He's got that gleam in his eyes that scream TROUBLE loud and clear in his head, as if he had his comm at full volume in his ear. It makes him wanna punch him—even if it will not be hard enough to cause damage because he just can't bear to be the reason that perfect, soft, pretty face gets a bruise—because he knows that even if Anakin doesn't like it, he will do it just to spite him (he has done it, multiple times with different people).
And he can only watch helplessly as Anakin starts very fucking slowly opening the chips that disastrous way. And, try as he might, no matter how hard he might be tried to conceal the words that he wanted to say, he wouldn't have been able to stop them, and he didn't. He watches as Anakin opens the bag so deliberately slow with a smirk on his face, uttering, "It's killing my soul a little that you behave like this."
And Anakin, honest to god, laughs. And it's not a fake or forced one either, no. He laughs with emotion while tearing the rest of the bag open and swiping at his face for a moment. He genuinely thinks that Echo's reaction to the stupidity he's doing is funny. Echo would just like to point out that nothing about this is funny. And that his reaction is totally valid. But, he expected nothing less from Anakin, in fact, he would've been surprised if his darling boyfriend had actually listened to him. So he just sighs fondly, shakes his head, and kisses Anakin on the forehead.
Rex still looks sour, albeit less than before (Anakin has that effect), and just rolls his eyes before leaving the barracks. Fives hasn't stopped laughing for a while now, and Echo has this urge to deck him in the jaw, but Kix pops into his mind and he thinks Kix certainly needs the rest he's most likely getting right now, so he doesn't deck him (it will most likely get him in trouble anyway). Anakin's laughing has died down, he's only snickering here and there, and Echo can't help but to kiss him.
It's a very soft thing, something sweet and short. A kiss where he hopes he's transferring all his love to Anakin, and he knows Anakin picks up on it, if the way he sighs dreamily and links his hands at his nape is anything to go by. He pulls Anakin more closely by the hands he out at his waist, and he faintly hears something make a gagging sound (he really hopes it was Fives) and it makes him kiss him a tad bit more desperate.
He still wants go punch him though.