Growing Pains

[Raz Solus]

She had the place to herself. Leandros had some matters to take care of. Now that she was in the second trimester, she was definitely showing. Her body was otherwise perfectly toned, but she had a noticeable bump. Leandros finally talked her out of doing the heavier exercises she had insisted on continuing. And he also talked her out of going on a combat mission, and that had led to one of their first real fights. In the end, she agreed she was being ridiculous and needed to accept that she was, in fact, pregnant.

Today she thought she would go out to get groceries since she was bored out of her mind. She had intense cravings and Leandros wasn’t around to boss around for her irrational food demands. That was when Raz tried to put on her armor and realized it didn’t fit. Normally she would simply shrug and readjust everything. This time, she promptly burst into tears and bawled by herself while being completely confused on why she was having such a strong reaction.

Raz returned from the grocery store with some very interesting items. She believed she had the house to herself, and he wouldn’t home for hours. She put on some baggy sweatpants and a hoodie, still feeling depressed as all hell. Naturally, Leandros had the knack of popping in when she least expected. When he walked in, he would see the HoloNet tuned into the Emperor In Paradise. However, Raz was nowhere to be found. He would hear some quiet sniffling and crying.

If he went into the kitchen, he would stumble upon a scene he thought he would never see - Raz was sitting in front of the fridge, on the ground. She was wiping her nose with the sleeve of her hoodie. In her lap was a bucket of the sauciest chicken wings ever. She grabbed a drumstick and bit into it and sobbed some more, completely shameful. Raz was too in the zone to notice anyone come in. It was so sinful. But it tasted so good.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Gods, he was such an idiot. Why would he leave her alone? He knew how she was acting now – that is, she was even more emotional than before – and he knew that giving her the entire house by herself was a recipe for disaster. He flew home in his airspeeder, hands wrapped firmly around the controls as he stared ahead. Lost in his own thoughts of making sure the mother of his child was okay, he neglected to obey certain traffic laws. He didn’t care, of course. It was his right, and anyone who attempted to stop him would be reminded of why he was known for his righteous fury.

Leandros mouthed a small litany of devotion to beg the gods for forgiveness, as well as ask for their watchful gaze to fall upon Raz and their child. He had been lax in his religious duties lately, his mind constantly worried on his love and their baby, and he knew that he probably had fallen out of their favor. His mind was a million places at once almost constantly, and every time he went out to fight, he did little else but worry about how Raz was doing back home. The argument they had over her accepting that she was pregnant was one of the worst they’d ever had, and he needed every blessing he could get to keep her well.

In the passenger seat was a stack of pizza boxes tucked securely behind the seatbelt. She had some weird cravings lately and he finally decided that trying to fight it would just lead to her sneaking stuff she shouldn’t eat. He’d much rather her not try and hide it from him, so it was time to forego vegetable medleys and enjoy some… well, he couldn’t remember the toppings he got, but the workers gave him some weird looks. Who puts pineapple on a pizza?

Leandros pulled into their home and slid out of the speeder, running his hand along the frame of it as he walked around to the other door. With a sigh and a few experimental sniffs, he unbuckled the seatbelt and lifted the stack of pizzas, shutting the door with his foot.

”Don’t shoot, it’s just me!” he shouted playfully as he finally opened the door to their home, hoping to catch her on the good side of her mood swings. He wore his armor of course, fully prepared to take a bolt to the chest just for annoying her somehow, but nothing came. He set the boxes down on a table and walked into the living room, poking his head around the corner. That stupid-ass show Emperor in Paradise was on, but Raz was nowhere to be seen. She loved watching it and had to spend countless hours explaining to Leandros why it was so good. He watched it with her, of course, but it just felt so… forced. That, and he didn’t really like the Emperor, so he already refused to enjoy the show on principle alone, despite keeping up with it just as religiously as Raz did.

”Raz?” he called out, wandering around the house until he heard the gentle whimpering from the kitchen. He followed the noise to its source, rounding the corner to the kitchen to see… uh…

”…Razberry?” he called out to the sobbing, lumpy, hoodie-and-sweatpants-clothed woman sitting on the floor, crying and eating… chicken wings? He knew she had weird cravings, but what the hell? She looked like an absolute mess just sitting there, tears running down her face mixing with the wing sauce staining her mouth and cheeks.

Leandros stood there and stared for a while, feeling a whole host of emotions at once. Terror, concern, confusion, anxiety, and a great mix of others all battled for dominance in his mind. In the end, one emotion won over the others. He couldn’t help himself, but he simply laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Here was the galaxy’s most-feared warrior, crying in her comfort clothes eating his chicken wings while pregnant.

”I… got you some pizza. Just the way you like it,” he finally said when his laughter subsided.

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz was in her own world, tearing off more chunks from a drumstick. Damn, why was this so good? The burn was just right, and it was so tasty. She hadn’t had meat in about a decade, and all that came crashing down. Raz didn’t even want to think about it, as it just made her sob more. She was shaken out of her trance when Leandros spoke up. Raz stared at him with her eyes completely wide, looking absolutely mortified with some sauce on her lips.

“I...I…” She tried to explain. However, he started to laugh. Her jaw dropped, and she looked deeply wounded. Raz took one of the sauciest chicken wings and hurled it with perfect accuracy directly to his forehead, “This isn’t funny, you asshole!” She screeched as she burst into tears. She hugged the wings bucket close to her chest, realized that her belly obstructed from getting it closer, and started crying even more.

“I’M SO FAT!” She shouted. She didn’t know what to do, so she just grabbed another wing and bit into it, “An’ nuffin’ fits me,” She spoke through a mouthful, not even caring, “An’ I’m eain’ mea’ ‘cause,” Raz paused to swallow, “Because I’m a disgrace to everyone. I’m Mand’Alor the Tubby,” She stared at Leandros unhappily. It would take every fiber of his being not to laugh. She was completely serious about her woes, and now she managed to spill sauce on her hoodie. He would realize she was actually wearing one of his hoodies which was a few sizes larger than her.

“How can you love me when I’m a whale?” Raz started sobbing, “You’re gonna leave me for some hot Kryze I know it!”

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros couldn’t stop smiling at the scene because of how unfathomably ridiculous it was. He caught her completely unawares with his arrival and she looked like she had just seen a ghost when they made eye contact. His laughter didn’t stop until a chicken wing nailed him square in the forehead. He recoiled, throwing a hand up reflexively to stop any more poultry pelting, and smacked the wing back to the ground with his other hand. ”Agh, why?!” he exclaimed, picking at the spicy wing sauce that flew into his eye. He rubbed it gingerly, blinking multiple times while it burned. ”I didn’t even do anything!” he continued, shaking his head and looking at her with one good eye, the other squinted shut.

She was a pitiful sight to behold. Lumpy and sad, she just sat there in the floor and sobbed and screeched and sucked wing sauce off of her fingers, completely ashamed of herself. Leandros groaned while Raz freaked out about being fat and gnawed on another wing, shaking his head and rubbing his face, smearing wing sauce across his forehead more. ”By the gods, you’re not faaaaat,” he moaned, walking closer towards her. ”Of course your clothes don’t fit, you’re pregnant, dummy.” He stifled another laugh at “Mand’Alor the Tubby,” covering it up with an obvious cough.

Leandros didn’t expect this when he came home, but he was glad he got this instead of a Raz with a blaster angry at him for this mess. That was a scary woman. ”You’re not tubby!” he retorted, ”Maybe… lumpier than usual, but it’s because there’s a friggin baby inside you! I’d go with Mand’alor the Thick if anything.” He knew his words wouldn’t comfort her in her hysteria, but it was worth a try. He loved poking fun at her when he could and he hoped her emotional deviancy wouldn’t make her hate him even more than she did right now.

It took him a second to realize that she was wearing one of his hoodies and getting wing sauce all over it. He frowned and crouched down to get even with her and look her in her bloodshot eyes. ”Aw, babe, c’mon. You think those Kryze backwaters have anyone pretty enough to leave you for? What am I, some kind of Fett?” He smiled tenderly at her and held his hand out, cocking his head slightly. He looked like he was about to say something profoundly romantic right then.

”Can I have a wing?”

 

[Raz Solus]

She felt slightly better when she saw the sauce smeared across his forehead. She would take her small victories. Raz glared at him as he said she wasn’t fat, when she knew for a fact she was. She could have sworn her face looked as if it gained ten pounds, even though that wasn’t true. Raz grumpily stared at him, watching him step closer.

When he called her Mand’alor the Thick, she said nothing, silently bristling and putting the bucket aside. However, once he crouched down and extended his hand, she grasped his hand with her sauce hand. She yanked him closer and clocked him on the side of the head with her cybernetic hand, “MAND’ALOR THE THICK?!?” She screamed inches from his face, making him topple to the ground on his ass.

“Here, have a wing,” She huffed as she threw one at his chest. Raz was sniffling and wiping her nose and face with the hoodie sleeve, “I can’t even go fight Sith right now. They can probably do some bullshit Force crap to attack the baby. I have to sit at home all day and watch Emperor in Paradise,” She suddenly screamed again, “WHY ISN’T HE PICKING A DAMN WOMAN ALREADY? HOW MANY DATES DOES A MAN NEED? WHAT THE HELL IS EVEN THE POINT OF A DATE?” She stared at Leandros, “WHY HAVEN’T WE GONE ON A DATE?”

Raz burst into tears again, “It’s because I burned that village, isn’t it? You think I’m too crazy to take on a date,” She was making absolutely no sense. Raz ate another wing, quieting down into sniffles again. She hated being like this, but she also had little control of it. Her Badger side was coming out full blown in various different outbursts.

She calmed down and moved closer to him, “Ugh can you just hold me?” Raz said impatiently, lifting his arm and putting it around herself. Raz leaned in close to him as if she just hadn’t called him names or clocked him over the head. She sighed contently, “I missed you, cyar'ika” He had only been gone a few hours and it felt like an eternity. Normally they were used to being apart for weeks at a time.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros knew he absolutely, definitely, 100%, completely whiffed when he called her Thick. He thought that was a compliment? Thick with two c’s? People said that to compliment others! Raz definitely didn’t get that memo, and he thought, for a brief moment, that his life was about to end. Rather than hand him a wing, she gripped his hand with her sauce-coated hand and yanked him in. At first, he thought she’d try and, like, kiss him or something cute, but that idea was dispelled when he began seeing stars after her cybernetic hand nailed the side of his head. He reeled back and onto his ass, blinking several times from the force of the blow and rubbing his head with his sauce-covered hand without thinking, smearing more of the zesty wing sauce across his face.

”Aowgh, why?!” he exclaimed again, now dazed, confused, and covered in wing sauce. He was still recovering when another wing plopped against his chestplate and fell into his lap. While Raz complained about not being able to go fight, Leandros plucked up and began munching on the wing, looking at her with casual interest. ”That show’s stupi-“ he barely got out before she suddenly screamed again, causing him to recoil and press his back into the counter behind him. Why haven’t they gone on a date? He had no real answer to that, they just didn’t seem like the “go on cute dates” type. He knew his explanations wouldn’t work because she immediately went into a tirade about how she was crazy and that he would only make things worse, but he had to try.

”We… ‘ve totally been on dates. Basilisks by the lake? Bantha riding? That time we conquered a planet together?” he said, cocking his head and turning the chicken bone in his hands around. He had no idea how to control her behavior right now and, frankly, it was kind of frightening to see how quickly she shifted moods. Was this what parenthood would be like? There was no battlefield or training to prepare him for this kind of stuff.

She went a total one-eighty again when she butt-shuffled over towards him and lifted his arm around her. He pulled her in close, rubbing her opposite shoulder with his hand. ”I missed you too, cyar’ika,” he cooed, touching his head to hers. He went silent for a little bit, then turned and looked at her face. ”I ever tell you you’re beautiful?” he mused, smiling in the hopes of keeping her calm and happy, ”I think it all the time but don’t think I ever actually said it to you.” He lowered his gaze to her sauce-stained sleeve and smiled more, ”And meat for the first time in, what, ten years? You’ve been naughty, Raz.” He'd clean the hoodie later; he didn't really care about the sleeve stains all that much. He just wanted to be close to her for now, for both of their sakes.

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz was quiet for a moment, pondering his words. They had gone on plenty of dates. Most of them were adventures that she wouldn’t go on with anyone else. That made it a date, right? It didn’t matter. She had moved on, and she was snuggled up close to him now. Raz felt her face heat up when he complimented her. She normally found compliments stupid, but she had just enough hormones coursing through her to where the gesture worked.

“You don’t think it all the time because we’re always in helmets, dummy,” She said, though the smile was on her face. Raz looked at him for a moment, “And did I ever tell you you have the prettiest eyes?” She shifted closer to him, “Even though I don’t get to look at them as much as I’d like,” This was probably the sappiest they had been in a while. Naturally it was while they were both covered in chicken wing sauce. She didn’t even care, it was secondary right now.

Raz rolled her eyes at the meat comment, “Promise me you won’t tell anyone,” She asked in a more serious tone, “I...it...was a sudden urge. I couldn’t control it,” Raz looked at the bucket, feeling disgusted at herself for caving like that. She had avoided those foods for so long, and it all fell apart in one evening.

She ran a hand over her belly, leaning her head against his shoulder. Raz looked down at the bulge, “Do you want a son or a daughter?” She asked quietly. Raz hadn’t broached the topic of finding out the gender. She had a feeling that he would have some beliefs around ‘Kad will decide and we will know when we know’ that she didn’t feel like debating.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros shrugged, drawing Raz closer to him right as she snuggled up. He could smell the pizza in the other room and the potent wing sauce all over them, but it just made him happier. He was glad that he could come here and escape the burdens of leadership and just forget about everything beyond the walls of the house. This home was the only place the galaxy could ever see the Mand’alor and her lover snuggled up on a kitchen floor coated in wing sauce, and that was perfectly okay. This was their private refuge, and nobody in the galaxy would take that away from them. He wouldn’t let them.

”I do think it!” he retorted, ”Because I know what’s under the helmet.” He continued to look at her face, grinning as she complimented his eyes. ”Well,” he began, idly glancing around the room, ”You get to look at them as much as you want now.” This was absolutely the sappiest they’d ever been, and, though he would normally find some way to avoid being so sappy, something about this moment was absolutely perfect to him.

Her tone shifted to something more serious as she begged him not to tell anyone about her eating chicken. She seemed truly regretful, and he knew that she worked hard to maintain her diet, so caving so easily probably destroyed her. ”It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone, Razberry,” he said, holding up a sauce-stained pinky with the hand wrapped around her shoulder, ”Promise.” With his other hand, he took a small dab of the wing sauce on his pointer finger and poked the tip of her nose, dragging the sauce from her nose, across her lips, and down her chin, smiling victoriously to himself, even though she already had wing sauce on her face.

When she asked him if he wanted a son or a daughter, Leandros went quiet for a moment, pondering the question. He truthfully hadn’t even thought about it, so elated that they were having a kid to begin with to really consider what he’d like to raise. He looked at the bump hidden beneath his hoodie that she wore and pursed his lips. ”…A daughter, I think,” he finally said, ”Because if she grows up to be anything like you, the galaxy would be blessed. We don’t need more little Leandros’ running around, it can barely handle one. Hell, it can barely handle you so I have no clue how it’ll handle two of you.”

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz scowled at him as he wiped the sauce on her face. Like before, she didn’t react immediately. More of her normal personality was coming back, the irrational side moving aside for now. She instead turned to face him. With a bit of a struggle, she managed to climb on to sit on his lap. With her belly putting space between them, it was more sitting on his legs while facing him. She brought her arms up to rest around his neck. At least this way she could look into his eyes.

“A daughter would drive you crazy,” Raz grinned, “Especially if she’s anything like me. And knowing you? You’d be overprotective and annoying,” She rolled her eyes, “Thirteen years old? She’ll be the only one that’s not allowed to be an adult. I know you,” She leaned in as if to kiss him. However, at the last minute she wiped her face against his, smearing the sauce all over his face. They were both a complete mess, and she couldn’t help but chuckle.

Raz paused what she was doing to look into his eyes for a moment. She had to awkwardly try and lean over because of her belly in the way, but she didn’t complain, “I think you’ll be an incredible father,” She said fondly, “There is no other man I could ever imagine being the father of my child. There is no one else I can ever imagine taking something like raising a child on with,” Raz smiled at him, “I was afraid at first, but I’m not anymore. I can take this on, and I know I can because it’s with you,” She leaned in to kiss him then. She didn’t care that they both tasted like spicy wings, her heart was full of love and adoration. She was beginning to fall in love with him all over again as she thought about this new journey they would take on.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros helped Raz try and sit on his lap, but her growing belly prevented them from getting much closer. Instead, he shifted his legs to be comfortable for her to sit on, even if it wasn’t exactly the best position for him. She looked ridiculous with the sauce on her face and staining his hoodie, but she was still just as beautiful as ever in his eyes. As she rested her arms around his neck, his eyes met hers and he grinned.

”And a son would drive you crazy,” he began, smiling, ”And she’d be allowed to grow up! She’d just need my permission firs- awph-“ his sentence was cut off when Raz leaned in and smeared the wing sauce all over his face and he couldn’t do anything to stop it except stick his tongue out and try to lick up any incoming zest heading for his face before she wiped it on him. All that really achieved was just him licking part of her cheek with a fat tongue, not really preventing the saucy attack from succeeding.

They both halted what they were doing and Raz leaned over towards him. He tried to prop his legs up to help her, but, again, her belly got in the way, so he just let her try on her own. His heart melted at her words and he couldn’t muster up the strength to do anything but simply smile at her. He had cried on the day he found out that she was pregnant, and his eyes began to tear up once again as she went on. Before he could say something, she leaned in and captured his lips with hers. Lightning, white-hot and electric, coursed through his body the moment their lips joined.

All the roiling and torment of the stars above them vanished into nothingness, leaving only the two of them connected on more levels than just physical. She tasted like wing sauce, and he knew he undoubtedly did as well, but that only spurred him onward to feel the bite of the spice against her soft, smooth skin. His hands traced up her thighs and interlocked behind her back, trying to pull her as close as her body would allow.

After a few seconds, he pulled back, licking his lips and staring at her with heavy-lidded eyes. ”I’m glad I met you,” he said softly, ”I don’t know how my life would have been without you in it. You’re going to be a fantastic mother, I just know it. Whatever our child ends up being, they’re in good hands.” He brought his hand up to caress the side of her cheek, even though all he did was just smooth the sauce into her skin. ”I don’t think I’ve ever kissed someone who tasted like chicken before,” he joked, ”But it was pretty tasty. We need to do this more often.”

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz couldn’t help but scream and laugh when he licked her face in at attempt to counter the sauce attack. She burst into laughter, both of them a complete mess. It didn’t help that she couldn’t get closer to him with her belly in the way. However, instead of making her cry like earlier, everything was funny now.

They paused for a moment to kiss, and she savored every second of it. Raz leaned in as close as she could get, her intact hand sliding up along the side of his face and to the back of his head. He pulled back after a moment, and she gazed at him, still slightly breathless. They were covered in sauce, they were a mess, and they had no clue what they were doing. However, she wouldn’t change it for the world.

When he mentioned the chicken flavor, Raz grinned mischievously, “Then why not do more now?” She said as she traced her hand down to take off his armor, “I can’t believe you’re in armor,” Raz muttered quietly as she undid it for him, “We can’t ever be spontaneous when it takes an hour to take everything off,” She said, though the smile didn’t leave her face.

She barely had his torso plates off before she placed a hand on his chest and shoved him back. He would topple onto his back, and she grinned down at him. Being entirely too lazy to deal with his upper clothing, she began to work on his pants, her gaze remaining locked with his, “I think we have a small window before I get hysterical again, so let’s make the most of it.”

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros smirked impishly when her tone shifted noticeably, realizing what she meant. Her suggestion found no resistance, and he reached up to unclasp his armor with her, his other hand sliding up her thigh. ”Right here?” he asked rhetorically, fully okay with the fact that this was about to happen with the two of them absolutely filthy. While they worked on the torso plate, he tenderly rubbed along her inner thigh, snaking his fingers behind the elastic of her sweatpants to start tugging them down. ”And I cant believe you’re still wearing anything at all,” he retorted, reaching over with his other hand to finish the job of getting her pants off.

He had just managed to pull her sweats down just far enough when she abruptly pressed against his chest and pushed him down. He went with the motion, rolling his back smoothly on the floor to not hurt anything or disrupt their work. Raz gave up on his upper body clothing and began fervently working on his lower garments, so he lent her a hand. He pulled his pants down and shuffled in place to get them out from under him, not once breaking eye contact with her. When they were situated, he ran his hands along her bare thighs once more, gently squeezing her soft skin as he traveled up towards his goal.

...

The next while was another blur of electric feeling for Leandros as he gave himself over to Raz. Like she wanted, they made the most of this little window of opportunity they had, and he spent his time exploring her body as he wished. Somewhere during their fun he had lost all of his clothing, but he noticed that it lay in disconnected piles around them from when they threw them out of the way. Leandros laid there, panting, one hand still gripping her leg while the other rested on his chest. The heavy rise and fall of his chest matched hers, and he simply looked and watched her for a few moments.

He half-chuckled and half-exhaled heavily, shaking his head in disbelief. ”Wow...” he sighed, ”I didn’t think you could even do half of that stuff. Definitely not the parts with the sauce.” He slid his hand up from his chest and onto her other leg, rubbing the outside of her thigh idly as he stared at her. ”We’re gonna need more wing sauce.”

 

[Raz Solus]

She didn’t even know she wanted it that bad. When he first walked in, she was hysterical and throwing things at him. However, having him right there set a fire in her that she couldn’t control. They had been here many times before, but certainly not in such a ridiculous setting. Eventually, the clothing did come off and laid around them to litter the floor.

Raz gazed down at him afterwards, her chest rising and falling as sweat lined her body. Her hands rested on his stomach, and she rolled her eyes at his words, “I don’t know why you’re out of breath. I did all the work,” She winked at him, “You must be getting old,” Raz tried to lean down to kiss him, but gave up. She pressed down on him and gingerly rose off him to get to her feet. Raz was still not used to getting up from sitting, often tilting one way or the other thanks to the added weight.

She finally was on her feet, looking down at the complete mess on their floor. Raz waited for him to get up, shaking her head, “I can’t believe I got wing sauce in my hair,” She grumbled, “My hair,” The hysterics threatened to come back, but she kept it in check. Raz didn’t care about the mess, making her way towards their bathroom and turning the shower on.

“Get in here, we’re disgusting,” She called out to him, “I hope you know this doesn’t change anything. I’m back to being a vegetarian,” Raz said with a guilty tone as she slid the glass door open to step into the steamy water. She was finally happy to rinse the hot sauce off. As she stood there in the water, she realized this was the most she had been comfortable with her body.

She had been adamant about how fat she felt and avoided taking her clothes fully off around him. Raz washed her hair and looked at him, “You were about to call Emperor in Paradise stupid earlier. I know that’s a load of banthashit because you’ve been eating it up more than me lately.”

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros stared up at Raz and shook his head, ”I’m not getting old!” he exclaimed in protest, smiling at her attempt to lean forward and kiss him. She got up and off of him, leaning hard as she rose to her feet. He laid there, fully naked and staring up at her with a grin on his face for a few moments before sitting upright and carefully getting to his feet. The kitchen was an absolute wreck and he knew he’d be spending a few hours scrubbing sauce out of the floor and cleaning up the area while Raz probably watched.

”Yeah…” he trailed off, looking at her hair, ”Got pretty wild there near the end.” He reached over and ran his fingers through some strands of her hair, flicking his hand at the ground to get whatever was on it off. While Raz wandered off towards the bathroom and turned on the water, Leandros shook his head at the sight of the kitchen. Damn, he’d really need to scrub hard in some of these places.

Her beckoning broke him free of his thoughts and he turned, strolling through their home towards the shower. ”Sure, sure,” he said in response to her commitment to vegetarianism again, ”Vegetable medleys for dinner it is. Got some pineapple pizza in the dining room, too. Your favorite.” He stepped into the shower, feeling the cold sensation of the water hitting Raz and spraying onto him for a few moments before he sidled close to her to get under the running water. The feeling of finally cleaning off was always indescribable and doing it with her here just made it better. Whatever wing sauce and other fluids on his body washed off, swirling down the drain beneath them.

For a while, he just looked at her body, inspecting each and every curve starting from the bottom-up and top-down. She’d been absolutely positive that she was fat, despite his protests, and often refused to strip when he was around. It warmed him to see that she was accepting her new body and was finally comfortable being around him because he knew how difficult it was for her to just sit around and wait.

Leandros let the water run down his body while Raz washed her hair, rolling his eyes at her comments. ”I need closure,” he said, ”To see what kind of troll the Emperor ends up with. It’s like watching a train wreck – I can’t stop looking.” He raised his hand and flicked some water at her face playfully, sticking his tongue out. ”There’s also the one girl who told the galaxy she stole my armor,” he said, frowning, ”How can people take me seriously now? Leandros the Naked, maybe that’s what they’ll call me.” He groaned and shook his head, rubbing his face.

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz felt her face heat up as he eyed her up and down. She had to stop herself from thinking he was thinking of all the way she was fat. The water was warm and comfortable now, and she looked down at the way it traveled down her bump and splashed over. It was all new to her, and she found it all curiously fascinating. She looked up at him after she finished with her hair, grinning at his words about the show.

“Troll? I think there’s only one troll. The other finalist seems pretty cute,” Raz commented as she thought about the last two contestants. One of them looked like she could bench press the Emperor. The woman looked more like a butch Mandalorian than a woman that belonged on a show about dates. She thought back to Leandros’ comments about the woman that stole his armor. Raz squeezed her eyes shut when he flicked water, and she responded by wiping soap foam down his face.

“I recall that woman having taken quite a liking to you,” Raz said as she washed herself off with soap. She had a grin on her face, “Everyone whispered about the two of you. Even I was convinced that was a thing,” Raz wasn’t surprised. He often had a stream of admirers. She was the only one clueless about it all.

“Also, I don’t mind Leandros the Naked at all,” She winked. She grabbed his hand and pulled him close to hug him. However, her belly collided with his and kept him at a distance. Raz narrowed her eyes and stared at him, “I’m never going to get used to this…”

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros grumbled to himself, remembering how foolish and headstrong he had been way back when he had lost his armor to the Wrens. He was a newly-minted Rally Master back then, and he was so confident in his abilities that his ego blinded him to their trickery. Since then, it’s become an inside joke among his friends, but the shame of it still lingered at the back of his mind. He should have killed the woman responsible, but he didn’t, and now the galaxy knew what she had done from watching a simple dating show. It irritated him, and his face showed his grumpiness for a moment as he briefly returned to the angry, stern version of his previous self. That was all before he truly met Raz. Hell, she had helped him retrieve his gear in the first place.

He snapped back to reality when Raz spoke to him and he blinked a few times, shrugging. ”One of the final two looks like a dude and the other one just… makes me mad just to look at. I don’t know why. Just some kinda irrational anger thing, I guess.” He closed his eyes just in time to avoid getting soap in them from Raz’s counterattack, smiling as the foam slid down his skin.

Leandros frowned again when Raz mentioned that the armor thief had taken a liking to him. Frankly, it had been so long ago that he had forgotten her name, though that wasn’t particularly important right about now. ”Oh?” he asked when she said that everyone whispered about them, ”And what does everyone whisper about us?” He smiled, both at his own comment and her not minding his nakedness. They went for a hug, but her bulging belly stopped them, and he pouted comically.

”There’re smarter ways to do this,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder and turning her around so that her back faced him. He slid his hand down along the side of her body and pulled her in close, hugging her from behind. He leaned forward and kissed the side of her neck, speaking into her ear, ”Missed a spot.”

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz saw his grumpy face - one she hadn’t seen in a while. She rolled her eyes and smeared more soap on his forehead, “Oh come off it,” She smiled, “It was forever ago,” It felt like it had been ages since she had helped him retrieve his armor. She was laidback about it, but she could tell it truly hurt his pride. Leandros was always a serious man, and that was the one time she could think of that added a spot to his otherwise immaculate record. As he rose through the ranks, the jokes dissipated almost entirely.

She noticed the almost lost expression on his face as she mentioned the Wren woman. Had he forgotten? Raz rolled her eyes yet again, realizing that this was very typical of him. He moved on and spun her around, pulling her close. She pressed against his body now, no belly in the way. She always cherished the feeling of his arms around her, and he was the only one that could make her feel protected like this. Raz felt a jolt go through her as he kissed her neck and whispered near her ear. The little gesture was sensual and sent warmth through her that had nothing to do with the shower.

Raz smiled as she grasped his hands, sliding them further down to her belly. She thought about his question for a moment, “Well...the people that don’t know us very well whisper about rumors about us being together,” She laughed softly, “And….the people that know us,” She paused for a moment, gazing ahead, “Are speculating about if we’ve gotten hitched yet,” It was difficult to gauge her reaction there, though she leaned back into him and nestled into his embrace.

She had thought she had found love when she had been with Val, but it never came close to how she felt about Leandros. He had seen her through countless chapters of her life, and he had known her struggles down to the details. He loved her through her darkest moments, and she couldn’t help but bristle as she remembered the village. Raz closed her eyes, pulling his arms tighter around herself, “What do you want them to whisper about us?”

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros smiled as Raz gripped his hands and moved them down to her belly. It was an unusual sensation at first, feeling something other than her toned core for once, but knowing what was inside simply brought him immense joy to such a degree that the weird feeling lasted only a moment. It was still just as surreal to him, her pregnancy. He could have sworn that they were both being as careful as possible, but mistakes happen and things happen because of that. Deep down, he believed that this was meant to be, and he alternated between terrified and elated at the prospect of parenthood. Leandros rubbed her belly idly as he listened to her speak, leaning his head against hers when she nestled closer to him. "And are we getting hitched?" he asked, half-serious, "We're... a bit more than boyfriend and girlfriend now.". He knew she'd be against the idea of marriage, and they were practically married in every way except legally, anyways. He wanted to see how she'd react to his question, curious if she felt the same way.

She pulled his arms tighter around her and he made careful effort to not hurt her as she did so. The warm water splashed against their bodies and steam rose from the shower, fogging up the room. He grinned at her question and moved his head to the other side of her neck and kissed there, moving up to nibble on her earlobe for a moment. ”That I’m the luckiest guy in the galaxy,” he said quietly in response, smiling still, ”And that we’re totally banging.” He laughed softly at his own stupid joke, pulling her tight against him.

He thought about their lives together and what led up to this point. For years, she was just his Alor, and he was nothing more than a humble, eager servant to her will. Something changed, though, when she had become the Mand’alor, but he couldn’t quite place it. His mind flashed back to their first time hanging out together in her home. He’d given her a gift then – a blaster – without realizing how much farther they would go from that.

He raced through his memories with her; from the basilisk race, to being pulled into the lake by her, to sitting on its shore and watching nature for hours, soaking wet; from consoling her after Dan died to getting shitfaced in a barn and riding banthas, to wandering through the woods in a thunderstorm singing at the top of their lungs, to avoiding death by grandma; from conquering planets to cooking vegetables in their underwear and everything in between. They’d been there for each other through their ups and downs, and he cherished every moment spent with her. Nobody in his life had ever made him feel as happy as Raz made him feel.

Leandros kissed her again on the side of the neck, rubbing her belly with one hand while the other gently traveled along her body. ”And what do you want them to whisper about us?” he mimicked, curious to hear what rumors she wanted the galaxy to spread about their relationship.

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz’s eyes went wide as he casually asked if they were getting hitched. She was known for being non-sentimental and unromantic. For all her qualities, this was an area she was stubbornly terrible in. There was a moment of pause as she blinked and thought about the question. The water felt good going down her skin, and she was perfectly comfortable in his arms. She barely registered his next question, still stuck on the first.

What was he to her? It was juvenile to call him a ‘boyfriend’. He had been her partner in every way he could be one. He had been with her from the beginning, and he was there when she killed to become Mand’alor. He had done all the major raids with her that got them to where they were today. Now he was going to be the father of their child, and her legacy would be passed on and shared through him.

“Was that you proposing?” She asked dumbly, tilting her head to look at him. Her expression was genuinely confused. Mandalorians weren’t known for having dramatic ceremonies or theatrical proposals. The last Mandalorian wedding she went to clearly borrowed a bit too much from Holomovies and didn’t play out like the simplistic norm of their culture. For all she knew, he truly had proposed. It caught her off guard, and she stood there in stunned silence.

Marriage had never been at the forefront of her mind, and she had never entertained the thought. If this had been with Val, she would have scoffed and laughed the idea off. However, with Leandros, and with a member of her House, she couldn’t come up with real reasons not to get married. Except for Raz being Raz, which was irrational and stubborn to a fault. Raz turned around to face him again, though she didn’t pull away, her arms around his neck now. She looked at him with curiosity dancing in her eyes, wondering what he meant.

 

[Leandros Solus]

Leandros stared blankly at the back of Raz’s head for a few moments in silence, registering her question. Did he just propose to her? The water ran down his back and warmed him, but the sudden pounding in his chest negated any comfort he could have gotten from the shower. He asked her the question thinking that she would mull over the response and tell him if she was open to the thought of marriage or not. Instead, he was now confronted with a difficult decision. At these crossroads, he could say that he wasn’t proposing to her and ruin the chances of future marriage between the two, or he could confirm her thoughts and…

…And then what? Mandalorians weren’t normally very festive about marriage, nor were they overly theatrical like some of the weddings they’d been to. In most cases, two Mandalorians who wanted to get married just needed to agree and have their word be their bond. Leandros wondered if Raz was even considering the idea, and he hated the stunned silence she adopted after her question. For several tense seconds, the only noise in the room was the sound of the water running off their bodies and into the drain.

Raz eventually turned around and put her arms around his neck, putting some distance between them with her bulging belly. Leandros looked down into her eyes, and she looked into his. He didn’t know what to say, so he did what he always did in these situations: he spoke without thinking.

”I… Yes,” he choked out an assertion, far more terrified of this than any battle he’d been in, ”I think it was.” He kept his hands around her waist, wanting to pull her closer but unable to. They had been through so much together and were connected on so many levels that marriage seemed like a trivial check in the box for them, but something about it was different. Even the concept of marriage seemed to contradict who Raz was, but Leandros wanted desperately for her to see how he saw her. She was everything to him, and, no matter how often he told her, he loved her with the depths of his being. She was highly irrational, obstinate, and headstrong to a fault, but she was also intelligent, beautiful, deadly, and everything he’d ever want in a mother for his child.

Would anything change between them, save the title they called themselves? Likely not, but Raz valued her independence fiercely, and Leandros worried that he’d stifle her if married. His mind swam with doubts aplenty in those few terrible seconds they shared together right then, clouding his thoughts like the shadowy fog of death, twisting and churning to dispel his clarity. He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, then opened them once more to look at Raz. This wasn’t the most romantic place, but it was personal and intimate, and that was enough for him. ”You’re the reason I smile now,” he confessed, ”You’re my closest friend, the only woman I’ve ever truly loved, and soon to be the mother of our child.” He inhaled once again, appalled by how nervous this of all things made him, “Will you marry me?”