It is not consolation; it is light. [Voice Test]

[the_force_is_with_me]

"You're going to freeze over there."

Baze tossed a pebble at Chirrut's back. He liked to sit in the window while he meditated, and Baze believed it was solely to aggravate his concern. Chirrut had never fallen out of a window; but he could be shot out of one, if a passing stormtrooper or other unfriendly felt so inclined. They'd found a place, safe and quiet but not far from the center of the city; not far from the destroyed, occupied temple. Baze had made as many repairs as he could to make the room tolerable. Sometimes it was still too cold, but they managed.

"Come eat."

Since the occupation and closing of the temple, meals were not entirely as regular as they used to be. Baze didn't mind austerity; he did mind starving. Living in an occupied city made life harder than it had ever been before, no matter what weather or natural disaster they might have faced. But this different, oppressive. People were suffering because of the Empire's very presence.

"Chirrut.

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[one_with_the_force]

"I won't freeze," Chirrut proclaimed. It was as simple as that. He believed he would and so, beside the cold, beside the danger of his exposure in the window, he stayed there as long as he could before Baze's voice became authoritative instead of contemplative.

He grabbed his staff and slid away from the window, careful in the first movements away from his spot as he got his bearings back.

"Four course meal, as always?"

[the_force_is_with_me]

"Only if you eat four bowls of it."

Baze tapped an empty bowl on the floor; maybe Chirrut didn't need the help pinpointing where he was, but he did it anyway. In case. He'd been doing things like that ever since Chirrut lost what little sight he'd had to begin with.

"What's wrong with sitting in here to do that?"

[one_with_the_force]

"I like the breeze," Chirrut said, settling down on his knees for the subtle navigations of serving himself. He appreciated how Baze cared for him, but sufficiency was necessary.

"How goes the look for work," he asked, soft, as he found the ladle and served himself. It smelled edible, anyway.

[the_force_is_with_me]

"I found something," he admitted. "I might be off planet for twenty, thirty days." The captain hadn't been entirely sure how long the trip would take and wanted to account for potential delays when Baze pressed him.

Baze did not sound particularly thrilled with the prospect. He didn't like leaving Chirrut for that long, even if Chirrut was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. That wasn't the point.

[one_with_the_force]

"Long time," Chirrut acknowledged, but it was better than no work. With his eyesight gone, for years now, Chirrut wasn't much use for off-world work. Maybe on NaJehda, or one of the other moons. But what could he do? Not mining, not clerical work.

But he was a good cheat and swindler. People put too much trust in a blind man.

[the_force_is_with_me]

"I don't have to take it," he said. "Might make things a stretch for a while, but something else will come along." Maybe he wasn't faithful the way Chirrut was, not anymore, but he did know things would happen. Jedha still needed things, there were still trade agreements, still transports, still plenty of other contracts out there that he could take.

Maybe something that would not have him off-planet for so long.

[one_with_the_force]

"It is as the Force wills," Chirrut says, a soft excuse, a smile curled on his mouth. "Better to take the work now, when we know you have it. I will do what I can, here."

There were gangs, always looking for muscle and willing to pay at least in shared meals. Chirrut was often overlooked--a former Guardian, a blind man. He knew how to get attention when he needed to.

[the_force_is_with_me]

"I don't like you getting into trouble when I'm not here." Never mind that Chirrut didn't need him. That wasn't the point. Baze needed him to be alright. And at least when they were together they could have each other's backs.

He stretched his leg out until it touched Chirrut's. Ever since the temple had been ransacked Baze had become more protective. He only had so much left to lose.

[one_with_the_force]

"The Force will protect me," Chirrut said, and this time it was with a broad smile, pointed at his bowl. He ate slowly. Better to not rush. He know, in no uncertain terms, that Baze's protectiveness was a part of the Force. Even when he was gone, Chirrut would be safe. This was the will of the Force.

"Besides," he said, and hooked his leg casually over the one that Baze had stretched out. "One of us must make honest work somehow."

[the_force_is_with_me]

Baze rolled his eyes but he didn't try to argue, not just now. He did laugh, though, quiet, when Chirrut suggested one of them needed to do honest work. "You could do that kind of work," he pointed out. "I think you like running with gangsters."

[one_with_the_force]

"You say it like such a bad thing, running with gangsters." Even though his faith was true, he had always been the reckless one. Losing his eyesight entirely hadn't helped with that. Now, there was so much to prove, and so much he could do by being the quiet observer of things. He slipped through the world, a wraith, a figment.

"Besides, what honest work is there for someone like me, hm? I will stick with what I do best."

[the_force_is_with_me]

"I see through you, Chirrut Imwe," Baze insisted, nudging against him. There was a smile in his voice. "You could find something, if you really wanted to." But he wasn't going to ask Chirrut to stop, because it was good money when he got it, and Chirrut liked it, whatever their ideologies were. Besides, most of the gangs here were against the Empire and Baze couldn't disagree with that.

"But this is the man I know." He leaned closer, kissed Chirrut's cheek.

[one_with_the_force]

The kiss was chaste, though it pressed over the edge from Brotherhood. How long had they been like this? Chirrut had lost count of the years. He reached out, searching for one of Baze's hands, and when he found it, he squeezed gently.

[the_force_is_with_me]

When he saw Chirrut seeking, he reached to meet him. Baze reached with his free hand, catching Chirrut's chin to turn him for a full kiss. "Maybe thirty days," he murmured. "It's going to be awfully quiet without you getting into trouble."

[one_with_the_force]

The kiss was soft, a relief. Chirrut squeezed Baze's hand again and sighed a little, reluctant to let him pull away. If they were going to be apart for so long, Chirrut wanted to have this warm, lingering memory against his mouth.

"I will make sure to make enough noise you can hear me across the rim," Chirrut teased. They weren't eating, either of them. He kissed Baze again.

[the_force_is_with_me]

Baze made sure his bowl was out of the way, made sure Chirrut's was, without breaking the kiss. Then he pulled Chirrut closer to him, holding his face and keeping an arm around his back.

"You would," he said with complete confidence. He would always know if Chirrut needed him. Maybe it was the Force. But he always knew.

[one_with_the_force]

the hold on him was secure and settling. With their bowls aside, Chirrut checked that he was not too near the cooking unit, and then swung his leg over Baze's, settling comfortably on top of him.

"You wouldn't know what to do if I didn't."

[the_force_is_with_me]

"No," he agreed quietly. "I wouldn't." He lifted both hands to hold Chirrut's face, just touching him for a moment before he pulled him into another kiss.

"You've always been loud to me," he murmured. "Even when you're silent." It started when they were young. Baze knew where Chirrut was, and later, knew how he was feeling; Chirrut could always find him, knew when Baze needed him.

[one_with_the_force]

To be heard, to be known, was important to Chirrut. His losses were innumerable; so were Baze's. And this, what transpired between them, reminded Chirrut that, perhaps, the Jedi had been right to deny him into the ranks of the younglings. He would rather this man with him, to the end of their days. Even if it meant the loss of his eyes, and this strange, tenuous connection with the Force. He would rather Baze at his side, even when they were separated.

"Come home to me," he whispered, and kissed Baze again. "You can go, just come home to me."

[the_force_is_with_me]

"Always. I'll always come back to you." Baze hated the looming departure, now that it had been decided he would go. They had time, a few days, a week, but it wouldn't be enough.

He moved, careful not to unseat Chirrut, into the pile of cushions and blankets they'd managed to amass and call a bed. He leaned back into it, keeping Chirrut against him.

[one_with_the_force]

Chirrut rather enjoyed it when Baze moved him, as if he weighed nothing at all. He knew it was from carrying around his armor and weapon; in comparison, Chirrut probably did way next to nothing. When they settled, Chirrut leaned into Baze, breathing in the smell of him.

[the_force_is_with_me]

Baze just held him for a moment, feeling the life in him. The memories of the next several days would keep him for the following thirty. His hands moved slowly, working lose parts of what Chirrut wore, removing layers, unfastening. Chirrut still looked like a Guardian; Baze still had his temple gear but had stopped wearing it almost immediately.

[one_with_the_force]

Slowly, despite the chill, clothing fell away. They'd laid together many times, in various states of undress, and Chirrut was in no rush to hurry something that was more physical than spiritual. Tonight, though, these following days, and every day in the aftermath of the arrival of the Empire, Chirrut wanted that physical more and more.

He tugged, more urgently than Baze was, seeking warmth and skin closer to his. His mouth found Baze's cheek, his jaw, the rasp of his beard on the way to his mouth.

[the_force_is_with_me]

Baze tried to help. The layers he wore now were different - and if anyone asked him, easier - than the temple gear of a guardian. Chirrut had needed to learn how to undress him all over again.

Still, Chirrut's insistence made him laugh, quiet and warm. "Hold on, hold on," he urged, sitting up a bit more so he could push his sleeves off. Chirrut's mouth moving across his face was a distraction, but he by the time they kissed again he was naked from the waist up.

[one_with_the_force]

Chirrut paused only long enough for Baze to untangle himself, and then he was back up against him. He wound his arms across Baze's more broad shoulders, pressed himself against his heavier chest. He'd put on so much muscle, carrying that armor and gun, that he hadn't had when they were young. Chirrut had stayed his willowy, wiry self.