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Boba entered the main deck of his ship. Another successful hunt. He could still feel his blood singing from the adrenaline rush. Which is why it took him a couple of steps pass Cal to notice him crouching over a tooka kitten. He froze mid-step, staring.
"Haar'chak, Kestis! What is that?!" The jetii turned to him with big sad eyes – oh, he knew where this was going. "No! Absolutely not! This is not an animal shelter, you di'kut!"
"But I couldn't just leave him there-"
"The fuck you couldn't-"
"But Boba! Just look at him! He would have died!"
Cal pointed to the pitiful looking tooka – he could see Cal's attempt at towel drying the animal, leaving the fur pointing every which way although not even that could hide the skeletal look of the small tooka.
Boba was not impressed. "That's just life, Cal. Now get that thing of my ship!"
Cal jumped to his feet grabbing Boba's hand between both of his, gently squeezing. "Please? You won't even notice the little guy. I'll take care of him! Pretty please?" Oh, he's taking out the big guns!, thought Boba, watching Cal give him probably the saddest kicked tooka kitten look to date. Manipulative little shit.
"Kestis, I hate to break it to you but I am the one taking care of you here. Remember? You're eating my food, using my water, heck, even the clothes you're wearing I paid for! How are you planning to take care of this thing again?"
"But-"
"The answer is no, jetii."
For a moment, he thought he won. Cal let go of his hand, lowering his eyes in defeat. He watched him squeeze his eyes shut, taking a deep breath, before slowly breathing out. He nodded, once, eyes glued to his Beskaryc Kar'ta.
He collected the little tooka into his arms, murmuring something to it, while BD-1 beeped questioningly. The whole display was absolutely heartbreaking. Stars help him, the jetii will be the death of him. Or worse, he'll become der'manda.
"Oh, fine!" Cal turned at his exclamation. "He can stay. But only for a few days. We are not keeping him." The ginger stared at him for a moment, as if processing his words, before giving Boba a sunny smile. The bounty hunter felt his heart skip a beat. Stars help him, indeed.
He was a fool. An absolute fool. His buir was right – never trust a jetii.
Two months later and the little tooka, now lovingly dubbed Took, was still on his ship. Well fed, with a shiny golden brown fur, the little guy was happily purring away in his lap, as he petted him with one hand while holding a datapad in the other, reading.
Now, Boba likes to think himself a patient man and in his line of work patience is a requirement. But it seems he will have to be the one to bring up the issue of Took, or else he feels the furball will stay with them indefinitely. And as much as he ended up getting used to Took's company, his ship is still not a place for a tooka. Or a pet in general.
Internally he has to admit he's also looking forward to not getting slowly suffocated in his sleep and waking up with a mouth full of tooka hair. Keeping the tooka from his bedroom became quickly an impossible feat. The little guy loves to sleep wrapped around his neck. Not Cal's – oh no, with Cal the vaar'ika is all gentle appreciation, lovingly rubbing himself over the ginger's legs, only draping himself over the jetiib lap at Cal's prompting and happily soaking up all the love Cal willingly gives. Keyword willingly.
Boba definitely drew the short stick here. Took will scream bloody murder at Boba if he isn't fast enough to comply with whatever wishes Took has. And Took will drape himself over Boba as Took pleases and when he pleases – even when Boba is busy chasing a bounty across the stars.
He definitely needs to talk to Cal about Took soon.
"We need to talk." Cal glanced at him. The ginger just came back from his mission. "Well hello to you too! And to you, Took!"Cal laughed, crouching down to pet the tooka. Bede beeped, jumping from Cal's shoulder and running further into the ship.
"Yes, welcome back. I hope you got the datafile for the Rebellion, which I know nothing about of course. No trouble, I hope?" Boba raised his eyebrow at the jetii.
"Yep! And no trouble. Although the person I met with was sweating bullets because he heard Boba Fett was on the planet," Cal grinned, showing the datacard.
"A lovely piece of air you got there," Cal snorted at Boba's deadpan answer. "Now, the talk?"
The jetii sighed, rolling his eyes playfully at Boba. "Okay, okay, what do we need to talk about?"
"Took," was the simple answer. Cal blinked, tilting his head in the same fashion the aforementioned tooka did sometimes.
"I said he can stay a few days. It's been two months, Kestis."
Cal cringed. Busted.
"I knew it!" The hunter exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Cal. "You purposely let the whole thing continue, hoping I'll just get used to it until it becomes the new normal."
"Guilty as charged I fear," Cal's grin was remorseful, but whether because his plan didn't work out or because he broke the agreement was anyone's guess. For his own peace of mind, Boba will think he is sorry for both of those things.
"But... it's not so bad to have him around, no?" Cal was looking down at him hopefully. The mandalorian had to take a deep breath, reminding himself that he actually likes Cal's caring nature. Most of the time.
"Cal, listen. I know you care for Took-," he received an unimpressed look from the jetii, "-and I got used to him," he amended.
"Got used to him? Boba, you two are inseparable-"
"The di'kut screams at me constantly!" insisted Boba.
"Because he wants your attention and that's the only way he can get it."
Oh.
"Ah. So he is like a smaller furrier version of you, then." Cal was left gaping at this explanation. He is not one hundred percent sure the bounty hunter is joking.
This conversation was going in a very different direction than Boba expected or wanted it to go.
"My point still stands. We aren't equiped to take long-term care of him. Cal, please, see reason. You spend half your time on Mantis, and I am often away from the ship for days, sometimes weeks – often times unexpectedly! And that's without counting in all the risks that are part of our daily lives." By the time Boba came to the end of his speech, Cal had that kind of sad resigned look on his face which meant he understands and agrees with Boba on this even if it breaks his heart.
"So... what now? We're not just gonna kick him back on the street, right?" came the question. Boba was quick to assure him that no, that was not the plan.
"There are numerous shelters that can take care of him and help him find a home," Boba watched Cal closely, trying to figure out the best way how to handle the situation. The jetii didn't look pleased with the idea of leaving Took in a shelter, but he wasn't verbalizing his displeasure so far. At least not yet.
"We can also offer him for adoption on the holonet, if that's something you'd prefer? But he must be rehomed before you go back to Mantis."
Later that day Boba took some holos of Took to post on the holonet. Cal's time on Slave I was running out fast – Cal and Bede already contacted the Mantis, agreeing on the time and place where they'll pick up their two missing crew members.
Boba made it his personal mission to screen every single individual who expressed an interest in Took – an easier task than he expected, but then most of these were regular folks not neck-deep in either criminal activities or politics. Or both, as was usually the case. The final decision to whom the tooka will go was left to Cal.
The time to part with Took was upon them before either of them realized.
Boba picked Took up into his arms. This was it. Cal walked up to Boba, raising his hand to pet Took one last time. Although his eyes were watery, Boba saw Cal's resolution not to cry. That didn't stop Cal's voice from vawering.
"I'm gonna miss you, little guy." He let Cal say his goodbye to Took, waiting patiently.
"Alright?" He received a nod from Cal. "Good, we're off then. Bede, watch over Cal for me."
The little droid immediately jumped at Cal, getting a bark of laughter out of him.
He saw the woman sitting at the bench looking around curiously, the carrier box she agreed to bring at her feet. She was young, humanoid with dark brown skin and eyes. She looked a few years older than the holo Boba managed to pull from her college file. Cal picked her purely based on that holopic, as far as he could tell - wouldn't even look at the rest of the interested Boba gave a stamp of approval.
Once she noticed him, she did a double take – her eyes wide until she realized who she was so rudely staring at and she quickly averted her gaze. He was easy to spot – the mandalorian armour was rather eye-catching. He stopped a few paces away from her.
"You must be Isis." The girl jumped to her feet in shock, shaking her head.
"There must have been a mistake, I'm not-"
"Mreow!"
Whatever she was trying to say was interrupted by Took, who apparently wanted some good old attention. Isis's eyes immediately dropped to the tooka in his arms and Boba could see the wheels in her head turning
"A-are you-? Is this-?" she pointed desperately at the tooka kitten.
"This is Took," and with those words he dropped the attention starved tooka into the girl's arms. In her shock, she almost dropped him. The little tooka wiggled a bit in her arms until he got comfortable after which he started happily purring. Good. Cal will be happy to hear that.
"I'm-I'm- I'm so sorry, but- were you the one I talked with throught the com?" she stuttered out in shock.
The bounty hunter didn't bother giving her an answer beyond tilting his helmet.
"It's just- you know! I just-! I guess I wouldn't have, ummmm.... You don't really strike me as... you know," the poor girl was looking from him to Took and back, desperately trying to figure out how she ended up with a tooka from Boba Fett of all people. Stars, if only he knew – but really, he did, oh, he sure did. His whole world turned on its head the moment he let Cal Kestis into his life.
"Let's just say my-," and here he stutters, unsure for a moment what to call Cal – neither of them gave a name to whatever is between them yet, he only knows that in the privacy of his mind he thinks of Cal as ner jetii. The word that slips past his lips without his permission sounds even worse, "– boyfriend has a soft spot for defenceless creatures."
Stars, he can feel his cheeks burning up. Isis is openly gaping at him now, not that he can blame her.
The tooka decided to break the awkward tension between them by meowing loudly at the mandalorian in that way that promised over-dramatic screaming at his person if not given proper attention. Immediately.
The tooka couldn't see the unimpressed look Boba shot his way, but he is sure the message was received nonetheless. Still, he lifted his hand and scratched behind the tooka's ear earning himself a purr from the little terror.
"You never saw me," he told the girl.
Not that anyone would believe her anyway. He hopes. He manages to take only a few steps before Isis's shouted "Wait!" is stopping him. He turns his head to look over his shoulder.
"I just- Do you wanna be updated on Took? I could even send you holos if you wanna? Or your boyfriend?"
"It's not necessary, but I won't stop you if you choose to." With those words he was finally off.
It was about two weeks later that his com beeped with a message.
Dear Mr. Fett,
Took is doing well. The first few days he kept searching and calling for you, often times hiding for long periods of time. Since then he's warmed up to me and I believe he is happy. The window sill has quickly become his favourite spot in the flat. He loves people watching and he makes sure I know of every single bird that lands on the sill.
Hope you and your boyfriend are doing well.
Best regards,
Isis
The message included a holovid showing Took meowing impatiently at the person behind the holo camera.
"What is it, baby?" laughed a voice Boba recognized as Isis's. The little tooka spun around Isis's socked feet, continuously meowing, his voice growing more urgent with every meow he uttered.
"What is it?" The tooka kitten got the girl moving to the window, quickly jumping on the pillow covered window sill and pawing at the transparisteel looking first at the small colourful bird at the other side and then at his owner and then back at the bird.
"What a pretty bird, Took." A hand reached out, petting Took patiently, at which point the holo recording stopped.
Boba was out of the chair and off to find Cal before he realized what he was doing, freezing at the door – Cal left a few days ago, taking Bede and his super-secret Rebellion information he knows absolutely nothing about with him. It was just him on Slave I.
He went back to his chair, checking the ship's status and trajectory, using the moment to compose himself. He is a bounty hunter. As was buir.
Whatever insecurities he had were quickly shut down before they had a chance to rise. He prefered not to think about what buir would think of his... bond with ner jetii.
He picked up his com to resend the message with the holo recording to Cal, realizing his mistake only after clicking send. Damage done - hopefully Cal will not think too much or deeply over being refered to as a boyfriend.
Boba could only hope.
For now he has a man to hunt down.
-TBC-
Mandoa:
Haar'chak! - Damn it!
jetii - Jedi (sing.)
di'kut - idiot
Beskaryc Kar'ta - Iron Heart or Mandalorian Diamond
der'manda - a state of not being Mandalorian, one who has lost their heritage and thus their identity and soul
buir - parent
vaar'ika - pip-squeak, runt
jetiib - Jedi's
ner jetii - my Jedi
