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Fox has no idea what he is going to do with a bouquet of the ugliest flowers that he has ever seen. The heads of the flowers were drooping on crushed stems. The smell of dirt clinging to the roots overpowered any smell the flowers might have.
The comm channel crackles with laughter as he stares bewildered at the civilian cadet who had just shoved them in his hand.
"I think you're supposed to say thank you, Commander."
"Shut it Hound," Fox snaps back as the sergeant's squad walks up behind him.
A woman scurries over from a group of refugees taking shelter under the nearby bridge.
"I'm sorry they are bothering you," She said as she steers the cadet around, not looking at them.
"No harm done ma'am," Fox replies.
The refugee nods and tugs the cadet along. A few steps away she started harshly whispering down at the cadet, "I told you not to go near them."
"Pal'nor said that you lied! They won't eat me!" The cadet protests, "I'm bored. And you won't play with me. I want someone to play with me!"
"Quiet down," The woman shushes them, "and don't run off again," She said as she pulls them back into the group of refugees.
"Aww, they wanted to play with the big bad Commander," Hound coos, "They could probably see your big heart shining through."
"Shining through what, my teeth?"
"Through all those gaps in your armor, obviously. They could see enough to defend your eating habits, sir, and they even still wanted to play with you. Grizzer would have loved to join you too," Hound says, patting said mastiff on the head.
Fox sighs and looks down at Grizzer, "Focus on your patrol sergeant. The separatists might still try something before the transport arrives."
"Good luck convincing the senator to agree to more guards, sir," Hound replies, snapping out a sunny salute.
"Balmont, Rot, Fi, don't follow the lieutenant's example," Fox instructs them with another sigh. He knows they already have been infected with Hound's sense of humor and really doesn't need them sassing him too.
"Yes sir," they snap out their own salutes.
"Commander," Hound whines in protest.
Fox shakes his head and watches them move on before going on his own way.
As he walks by the refugees, Fox can spot the cadet straining to look at him around the adults surrounding them. When they see the flowers still dangling in his hand they beam.
Fox continues past them and he can feel the glare of their caretaker trying to burn a hole through his armor. He needs to get to Senator Organa sooner than later, the senator took far too many risks with his safety. Decent senators are already rare enough, no need to let one of the best get themselves killed.
As Fox gets closer to the building that the senator is using as a base of operation, he pauses. Looking down at the flowers in his hand he feels his chest warm and the edge of his mouth lifts.
He can't help but imagine a small figure with dark curly hair and warm brown eyes sparkling up at him. A bright smile taking over their face. Small dirty fingers holding out a bundle of freshly collected flowers.
Well, the flowers weren't nearly as bad as some of the boutiques he has seen delivered in the Senate Rotunda. Now if only because they were delivered with a smile rather than a bribe.
He supposes nat-born cadets could be quite sweet, but Fox greatly prefers his own clone shinies. Not only did they come to him capable of following instructions, they also don't throw tantrums. Usually.
Making up his mind Fox looks for an out of sight spot to put the flowers down and sees a supply box that has been emptied and left behind. He puts them down in its shadow. He doesn't want anyone else taking them. It's an easy enough place to be able to retrieve from later, if he desires to.
There have been some times when Fox has seen some real flowers being kept after being dried. He can stick one of the less smushed flowers in his supply pouch and see if there is a way to dry it on the way back to Coruscant. No reason not to keep a good memory, though he'll need to hide it from Hound.
Now if he could just get Senator Organa to remember that he is more reasonable than Senator Amidala, and accept an improved guard rotation.