Techie looked up from his desk, startled at first. When he saw it was Matt, the tension drained from his shoulders. He was the only other person who had the pass-code to his quarters, so Techie shouldnāt have been scared (but old habits die hard.) āS-Sure!ā He gently put down the copper figure heād been working on and stood up from the chair, straightening out his back with a pop.
Matt laughed watched the man jump at his words. The man really did seem to frighten all too easily, he should have known better than to pop in on him like this. He looked down at the wires that had been placed on the desk.
ā working on anything interesting?ā He asked as they left the mans quarters.
Techie walked with him side by side through the corridors, their arms brushing. āInteresting? W-Well, I was making a wire friend for myself. Any loose w-wires I find and twist em up. You can m-make really cool stuff like that! One time I made a, uh, mini-me.ā
Techie half expects Matt to only pretend to be listening, or not to care about what heās saying. No, he reminds himself firmly. Matt is my friend. My only friend. Heās not like that.
Techieās hand twitches. He wishes Matt wasnāt only his friendā¦
Matt couldnāt help but to laugh when he heard what techie was doing in his quarters. He found the mans hobby rather as he had said interesting. Not everyone would have the imagination or skill to want to turn scraps of wire into figures.
ā oh that is interesting, sounds like fun. You have to show me some of them some time. Especially that mini you one that sounds cute. Maybe you can make one of me sometime. What do you say?ā
He bumped his side into techies playfully as they walked Into the cafe. He was silent while he went to grab his food which was never really what he wanted it never was with the Order. He waited for techie to get his food before finding them an empty table to sit at.
Techie nodded eagerly, pleased to be given permission to make a wire friend of Matt! The thought had crossed his mind before, but it had seemed creepy at the time. With Mattās go ahead? He would do it.
Tray loaded up with food heād not be able to stomach, Techie slips into the seat next to Matt and tries to ignore peopleās stares. They look at him like heās a side-show at a circus; a freak to be oogled. Doubly so when heās with Mattie. Already there are rumors about them.
āI was th-thinking of selling some,ā he whispers to Matt, snug against his side and food untouched. āYours will b-be, um, free though. Obviously.ā
Matt looked at techies tray full of food knowing he probably wouldnāt be eating much or if any of it. The man always seemed to do this whenever he went to the caf with matt which wasnāt too often. Matt didnāt care that he looked like he was eating like normal. The reason he invited techie to Luch was to make sure he at least ate something no matter how small that amount was.
His eyes wondered around the caf as he could feel the eyes on them. It wasnāt anything unusual as they always seemed to draw stares. They never were the most popular people on the ship but that didnāt matter. Matt didnāt need any one other than techie.
ā donāt worry about them. They donāt know anything about you. Just ignore them okay?ā He knocked his foot against techies as he spoke.
He looked up from his lunch when techie spoke of selling the figures. He had not doubt that he could make some money selling them seeing how cute they looked. A smile spread on his face. If techie had wanted to charge him he would have happily paid the price. Still knowing he wasnāt made him happy.
āThanks. Iāll see if I can drum up some business for you.ā
When Matt glanced at his tray, Techie turned a bright pink. Oh. Heād forgotten all about eatingā¦ Matt was more important; always. He picks up a plastic spork and pushes the food around while he says, āIāll try.ā
Matt said to ignore them, so heās got to try, at least! After a few moments of comfortable silence with his best friend, Techie was able to push their judgmental gazes from his mind.
When he spoke up once again, tucking some of his long red hair behind an ear, Techie smiled and said, āYou d-donāt have to. Arenāt you on bad t-terms with your, um, coworkers as it is? If you start āp-peddling my waresā theyāll be pissed, right?ā Stars, he wanted Mattās life to be perfect. But there was very little he could do to help.
ā you donāt have to eat everything just try to eat something thatās all Iām asking. Itās not good to not eat as much as you do.ā
Matt would always worry about techie. It didnāt seem anyone else was going to do that for him so he would gladly make sure other man was taking care of himself like he was supposed to.
He knew why people didnāt like him too much. It was because they thought he was Kylo Ren so did there best to just skirt around him and avoid him. He didnāt care too much as heād prefer to work alone anyways.
ā yeah You can say that again. They think Iām Kylo Ren.āhe whispered under his breath so only techie could hear.
He didnāt care what the others thought of him only what the red head next to him thought. The wire figures he made were cute anyways so he didnāt think people could get too mad at him for trying to sell them but heād thought that before only to have it bite him in the butt.
He leaned his shoulder to bump it into techies. That was the only form of contact he was brave enough to show to the other man. Anymore and he was afraid it would make the other man uncomfortable and he could afford to lose the only firend he had on the ship. All because he had a little crush on the guy.
ā donāt worry about me Iāll be fine.ā
Techie takes a spoonful of mysterious brown protein mush and swallows it down with an audible shudder. Yuck. āWh-what the fuck was that? Leftovers from f-four years ago?ā he jokes, giving Matt that cute little lopsided smile. This specific variant, with the crinkles at the edges of his eyes and the hint of dimples, was reserved just for Matt. āIād k-kill for some pizza.ā
At Mattās whispered confession, Techie shot him a quizzical glance. āKylo Ren? R-Really?ā He asked this very quietly, as though mentioning him would summon the volatile man. āWell, youā¦ā Techie trailed off, realizing what heād been about to say.
Youāre both ridiculously handsome.
āNeverm-mind,ā he said, too quickly. āI donāt s-see a resemblance.ā He picked some more at his food before working up his courage to say, āIāll worry about you anyway, Mattie.ā
Matt feels sympathetic for techie. The man never eats hardly and when he does it has to be tasteless mush. If he could get him pizza he would he would get him anything he wanted ifnot kept him happy. He laughs full out at his joke not caring who could hear.
The look on techies face as he smile makes Mattās knees slightly weak it always did. Thank the lord he was sitting down then bithe would do almost anything to keep having the ginger look at him in that way.
He looks quizzically at the ginger next to him as he stops mid sentence. Techie was going to say something and that quipped Mattās intrest. It could be hard to get the other technician to talk about something when he didnāt want to but matt thought he could make him speak.
ā well I want?ā He asked as he leaned in closer to look at him.
ā you donāt see a resemblance really I find that hard to believe?ā¦I can let you on to a little secret if you promise to keep it?ā
Techie’s wide eyes meet Matt’s, and he knows he’s been caught. “I was g-going to say th-that… you’re both, um, handsome,” he squeaks. The truth slips out of him and he’s terrified of what Matt will say! Will this make their friendship awkward? It’s far from a love confession, but maybe he can spot the adoration on Techie’s face and will pull back.
“I’m n-not good at secrets,” Techie admits. He’s unconsciously scooted a few inches away from Matt so their thighs no longer brush. Even that tiny bit of contact feels like a sensory overload right now. “But! I’ll work really h-hard to keep yours!”
Lips locked with a padlock, zippered shut, tightened with tape, sealed with superglue. Matt’s secret is precious cargo and Techie won’t allow himself to betray that.
TechieHux 