Summary: Being put into the Bad Batch was something good for you, a turning point in your life. And it was certainly a crazier one when you had found feelings for the technician of the team. Was there anything that could stop you from staring at him?

Warnings: shy!reader, fluffffffff, mentions of Crosshair, the awkwardness of my brain

A/n: I write Tech really poorly, I'm very sorry. :(

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He'd almost caught you once again. As you splashed water on your face, you exhaled with a soft breath. Hunter surely felt your heart rate increase, heard the heavy exhale you had made when you first introduced yourself to the refresher after Tech had looked over at you. Hunter heard everything. Stupid stupid stupid.

You had caught yourself accidentally looking at Tech quite a bit in the past few months. It was a habit you had attempted to throw out the window, to completely remove from your life, but it never seemed to disappear. You'd never tell him that you felt this striking interest whenever you looked over in his general direction, but you did. And if anyone knew at all, it was Hunter. The stupid sergeant and his stupid little senses that made you feel insecure to be in the same room as Tech because if Tech couldn't tell that you were so infatuated in him, then Hunter could. And Tech had absolutely clueless for once in his life.

Tech was smart, smarter than many living creatures for that fact. Though he wasn't smart enough to catch the hint that everytime he caught or almost caught you staring, it wasn't because you were waiting to ask him a question. It was because everytime you looked at him, he was always so in his element. He was downright adorable while working, so focused. And when he spoke to you, he tended to ramble. Fuck it made your heart swell - he was so cute when he got into one of his lectures.

You had dreamt of being next to him, allowing yourself to cuddle into his side as he worked on whatever he was doing. He was good at working while being pushed around by the boys. It made you think about how easy it would be to slip into his arms while he tinkered with whatever project he had going on or while he was reading something on his datapad.

You finally came out of the small, clustered refresher, seeing that Tech's eyes were focused back on his datapad (like always) and Hunter's were looking at you. Wrecker and Echo were outside with training targets set up, teaching Omega how to shoot her bow. You missed the kid and her big hugs even if she was just outside.

"Everything.. alright, Y/n?" Hunter asked, leaning a bit forward from his sitting position. He knew that he knew, faker. You hummed an approving noise as you back down next to the sergeant. You wanted to punch him square in the jaw, but you put that off for another day. Hunter gave you a bit more room, pulling his legs together from when he was man-spreading.

You cleared your throat, gaining the partial attention from Tech as well, "Has Cid called us back yet?"

Hunter only shrugged, "No, said she'll have a mission soon."

The silence clouded the room once again. They really didn't do that much when there was no repairs, this had been the first time in forever that the ship had been cleared for being okay. We'd all almost thought it was one of Tech's dry jokes, that's how much of a tendency we had for repairs. And it absolutely sucked to have nothing to do all day. You should've offered to help train Omega. Or just went back to bed when the Marauder landed on Ord Mantell. Those were both better alternatives than sitting in silence with a man you had a crush on and the only man that knew. Crosshair knew too. But you didn't like talking, or even thinking, about Crosshair.

You made a popping noise with your lips to clear the whole "awkward silence" thing, "I think I'm gonna visit her for a little and get a drink, I miss her attitude."

"That's a first," Tech muttered. As you stood up, you realized he was also on his feet. You didn't want to ask what he was doing, he could stand whenever he wanted to, it was just a coincidence that he also stood up when you had.

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

You looked at him with something between shock and nervousness. You hadn't been so nervous with anyone in your life before you had met the nerdy Tech, was this what a genuine crush felt like? You nodded frantically, realizing you'd stood there for a second too long just looking at him. You didn't that a lot, it became a sort of habit that everyone got used to.

"Sorry, I just.. zoned out I guess," you apologized, leaving your helmet on the table you were sitting at and starting your way down the gangplank.

Tech seemed to follow after you quickly, attempting to catch up. It wasn't odd for him to do that, he most likely had something on his mind that he wanted to share. And you were all there for it. You looked over at him, taking in his features - handsome with these soft caramel eyes, hidden by his goggles. You wanted to take them off for once, just to see what they actually looked like without the lens and all. They didn't seem to come off ever, though Crosshair used to always- never mind.

You thought of what the say to him, fuck you were staring again. Say something. What's new, Boo? No, that's too much for anyone of the boys to hear. Whaddup Tech! No, he's weird with your "civvi words."

"Hi."

Tech looked down at you with a soft expression. "Hello," he replied. He met your gaze for longer than you would have liked and you looked away again, face darkening. "Is there something you have to say?"

"I-uh no, I just thought I'd say hi since you're, y'know, walking next to me and all."

Gah! You felt your heart rate go through the roof. Why was he so intimidating? Well, he wasn't intimidating but he was Tech and Tech made you nervous and-

He pressed the back of his hand to your forehead, "Your forehead is steaming, Y/n, are you feeling unwell? Maybe we shouldn't visit Cid, it would be ideal that you get some rest."

He stopped, making you also stop as well. He was peering down at you now, hunched over to force eye contact. "If you would like, I have been researching a few home remedies in case a situation like such were to occur with your body."

"No, I'm fine Tech, I just need a drink is all," you spoke, looking back to the path in front of you. You started to walk away, but Tech grabbed your arm, pulling you back into a stumble and putting both of his hands on your shoulders. It kept you in place, letting him look down at you with knitted brows.

"I think that drinking will be the last thing that you do. I will not let you drink under your condition," you heard a slight waver in his voice as he lectured you. Tech? Worried? No, that didn't happen, and on the off chance it did, he had enough confidence in himself to distribute to the entirety of the clone army (they obviously don't need anymore though).

"Tech, I'm not sick. You never pestered Wrecker like this when he was sick."

Tech pushed his goggles further into the bridge of his nose, "Well, Wrecker usually sleeps off his illness fairly quick. You, on the other hand, are small and do not sleep as deeply as Wrecker sleeps."

You tilted your head, nose slightly scrunched as you glared up at him. You were slightly annoyed, not even hot in the face anymore. You forgot that Tech's hands were still on you, letting up from how tense they once were. "What about when Echo caught that bug from Nal Hutta?"

Tech cleared his throat, staring at me while he shuffled through answers to that question in his head. He had an answer to everything, but this - maybe not. Nal Hutta was a disgusting place that you never wanted to visit again, infested with disease and gunk everywhere. It was no surprise Echo got sick. He was upset the whole time and Tech cared about him physically of course but never ordered him to bedrest unless it was to keep him at a healthy amount of sleep.

"Simply because I knew he would be alright. I monitored his temperature, electrolyte intake and I made sure that he was eating exactly the right amount. Did I not?" Tech was always in matter-of-fact mode, so much so that you had almost thought maybe he won this small feud between you two. Being able to use such big words with certainty of what they meant, he could say the most random nonsense and you would have absolutely no clue if it was correct or not. You always assumed it was 100%, he was never wrong.

"You never ordered him to bedrest, you never made him a home remedy."

Tech stopped, his brain was working overtime - how would he get himself out of this? You stared up at him with a competitive glint in your eye, the one you had on the battlefield, always pushing back at him; he was the brains but you were the "brawn". You always had a comeback up your sleeve, you always knew what to say in an emotional aspect. He envied that in a way, wanting to know what it was like to follow your heart, not a logical conclusion set up by a droid - or better yet, the excellence of Tech's brain.

He choked up slightly and you placed both of your hands on his wrists as he let them fall from your shoulders. Maker, you were so soft.

Your face was on fire. Was the temperature rising? If it was, Tech didn't say anything. Gosh this was the worst you had ever been. Now that you were touching him, interacting with him without a wire or tool in your hand. You didn't remember the last time you had been alone with the man if it wasn't for work purposes. If there ever was a time.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" you asked, looking up at him with endearing eyes. His heart wretched at your face, wanting to just... he wanted to touch you. To hold you in his arms. Why did he feel hot all over? Was he also sick?

"I think that the sickness you are having, I have also contracted," he stated. He hoped you had understood. If it really was a sickness, then you could both go back to the ship and bunker down. That would be a simple explanation that would make this situation easy to diffuse. But if it was... something more, he didn't know how to tell you that in words. If he had to though, there was always to trying.

You smiled, shaking your head, "Tech, I don't have a sickness." As soon as you finished your sentence, your smile faded. Wait, he just said-

"Then, if my data is showing functionality, I do indeed harbor feelings for you."

You stared up at him, your lips parted. Your heart felt like it would beat out of your chest, into your throat and spit out of your mouth. Tech? Liked you? You thought you were absolutely out of his league. He never even seemed like he took interest in love, or even people in general. He always put his research and beloved datapad first that it almost escaped you that Tech could have secrets that he never shared, such as being interested in you.

"Tech, I-," you paused, swallowing and looking away from him. Your skin itched like you didn't belong in it, "I like you too."

It was like waiting for fireworks to go off, the anticipation scary. That's what he meant, right? Maker, he looked so adorable at that moment, face tinted pink, his fingers fiddling with something on his utility belt. Such as he had with his own hands earlier, you forgot you were touching him. Your hands no longer kept his wrists still, just flowed with the movement of his hands.

"May I... kiss you?" he asked, his hands already reaching up towards your face. You smiled, guiding his hands up to cup your cheeks. You then lowered your own, pressing them against his chest plate. He leaned down, pressing his lips against yours.

You never expected them to be so soft. Maker, you were lucky that he liked you out of so many sentient beings in the universe - you could kiss him for hours, days, weeks, years. You could have stood there and wasted the daylight away while kissing and never regretted a thing. When he pulled away, he kept his face only inches from yours. His forehead was softly laying on your own, goggles nudging at your brows but you didn't have a care in the world for that. You had just released so much weight off your shoulders from a simple kiss. You felt so alive, and free.

"You are certainly a perfect specimen," he stated, looking into your eyes with a crooked smile. Maybe that wasn't true if he wanted to try running experiments. Though, his statement didn't seem like a hypothesis, it seemed like a resolution.

"And you are the biggest nerd I have ever met. I love it more than I have ever loved anything."

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