(no subject)

[imthepilot]

Galen gets a message late one evening. The evening Bodhi was planning to spent down in the barracks with the other cargo crews.

The message from the head medic. You better get down here.

Comments

[imthepilot]

"Let me teach you a few basic dishes at least. Things you can throw together after work that won't take much to make. I can make up a few pots of spices too. Things you can add to even the mess food to make it a bit more palatable."

Which is very much his way of saying he'll miss Galen too.

[galen_erso]

"That's a good idea," Galen says. "Some people might mock me for bringing spices to the mess hall, but at least they'll think they know what I like about you, with no fisticuffs needed."

[imthepilot]

"They'll understand the spices, if they get a taste. And yes, they'll think you kept me around for my cooking." And he's okay with that. Better than them thinking Galen's keeping him as a toy boy.

[galen_erso]

"Scientists gossip as much as pilots ever can," Galen says. "Especially the old men here, with nothing else to do and not that much of their own lives."

[imthepilot]

"And a degree of jealousy, I'd imagine. It's okay for high up imperials to bed pilots for fun. It's just not okay for pilots to get on their knees for high ups." He shrugs. "It's just the way it is."

[galen_erso]

"Missing the mark narrowly," Galen muses, "is much more offensive than missing it widely. I don't bed you for fun, I live you and will stay with you, so it's better they think I like you for the food."

[imthepilot]

"I know that. And I love you too. I hope you know that?" He reaches out to take Galen's hand. "It isn't about us. It's about perceptions."

[galen_erso]

"I know that," Galen says, with absolute certainty, closing his fingers around Bodhi's.

[imthepilot]

Bodhi nods, glad that Galen understands. He takes Galen's hands and kisses his knuckles. "I'm sorry. I know being with me won't be easy."

[galen_erso]

"Being with you is the best thing for decades," Galen says. "I'm not asking for easy."

[imthepilot]

"As long as this," he presses Galen's hand to his cheek, "isn't putting you in any danger."

[galen_erso]

"It won't," Galen says. "Not unless Orson Krennic suspects this is more than a fling, and I doubt he can fathom that."

[imthepilot]

"Then we're careful when he's around. I go back to just being another pilot."

[galen_erso]

"Luckily, it's not that often, and never very long," Galen says.

[imthepilot]

"He doesn't like to hang around? I suppose he's a lot to do."

[galen_erso]

"He's very busy being important," Galen says. "And we're not the right people to be important at."

[imthepilot]

"He doesn't look as dashing in the rain?" Bodhi asks, somewhat sarcastically.

[galen_erso]

"Oh yes, his beloved white cape," Galen says, smiling. "Lyra and I had to work so hard not to laugh when he first turned up in that. We felt it would be unkind. Later, it was a tyrant's attire nobody dares to laugh at if they treasure their life."

[imthepilot]

"A tyrant in white." Bodhi shakes his head. "How poetic. Goes well with the monster in black."

[galen_erso]

"Yes, that it does," Galen says. "But Krennic has many higher-ups and lateral equals to contend with. He's not nearly as unassailable as Vader."

[imthepilot]

"But it's all about the look. The cape. Inspiring something... more than your average Imperial."

[galen_erso]

"And he is using me to be more than average," Galen says. "I can build the thing that will make him special."

[imthepilot]

"Because he isn't special himself." He reaches out to cup Galen's cheek. This was what Lyra died for - Krennic's ego. He could only imagine how much that hurt.

[galen_erso]

"Not really," Galen says. "Hence the cape."

[imthepilot]

"And instead he hides the brilliant ones here. The ones he uses to climb higher."