Bad Batch Tech Daily Oneshots

An Inkling (Tech x Reader)

I've never wrote a soulmate AU oneshot, so here I'm trying my hand at one for my first time! Hope you enjoy! (Also it's long~ Ahahaha! I had too much fun with it!) Apologies in advance too if there are errors... I'm finishing this up at 2 AM, so I frankly don't feel like editing it!

Edit: Did some editing of it today, now that it isn't 2 AM anymore.

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A sigh left the lean clone as he began removing the armor covering his body. He and the others had returned from a long mission, and he was glad to be back at the Clone Force 99 barracks once more. He knew the others weren't so fond of the place, but he had found himself vaguely missing the sound of Kamino's near-constant rain pattering on the roof. 

He set his helmet on his bed, then went to remove his chestplate. As he slid it up over his head, it hooked on one of his gauntlets, pulling up the tight sleeve of his blacks underneath. He turned his gaze to his exposed arm, about to roll the sleeve back down. Shock caused him to abruptly drop his chestplate to the floor at an unexpected sight. He winced at the loud clang that followed.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" came the voice of Wrecker as he poked his head into the room to find Tech staring dumbfounded at his arm. Tech caught sight of the bulky clone and quickly pulled his sleeve over his exposed skin.

"It's nothing," he insisted quickly. "I was simply startled by something and dropped my chestplate." He inwardly breathed in relief. His first instinctive response hadn't been a total lie, and considering how his baffled mind was racing, he was surprised he hadn't said something completely stupid instead.

Wrecker squinted at him skeptically. "Are you sure-?"

"Yes, I am," Tech replied, his voice coming out more sternly than he had intended. 

However, it did work, seeing as Wrecker mumbled, "Alright, well... Come join us in the cafeteria if you wanna eat something." Then he slunk away, leaving Tech be once more. Tech picked up his chestplate from the floor and placed it on his bed. 

He glanced around, half aware it was out of paranoia seeing that he was the only one in the Clone Force 99 barracks at the moment. Only when he was sure nobody was around, he pulled up his sleeve to gaze upon the dark markings on his lower arm. It appeared to be black ink, and Tech idly attempted to rub it away with his finger. When it did not leave, he frowned curiously. 

"I do not recall using ink recently... let alone getting it on myself..." he mused under his breath, adjusting his goggles thoughtfully. "Perhaps it is an oil stain?" He had done some repairs to the ship engine recently, but he hadn't recalled getting oil on himself. However, he had had his fair share of paper cuts in his lifetime to know you didn't need to notice it was there for it to almost magically appear on its own. 

Frowning, Tech moved across the room to where the rations were stashed. He took a small wrapped bar of food he didn't mind the taste of, then seated himself down on his bed before unwrapping it. He didn't care for large meals anyways; his stomach typically couldn't take it. As his ate, he found his eyes kept drifting to the dark markings on his arm. He squinted, pausing mid-bite to hold his arm closer to his face. Tilting it this way and that, his eyes widened behind his goggles. 

It was writing. There were entire words on his arm.

The food bar he had been eating was immediately abandoned as Tech went straight to work deciphering the code. It didn't take him long to see that it was not Aurebesh, the common written language across most species. "Not Mando'a either..." he told himself outloud, Mando'a being another language he was quite fluent in. 

Tech pursed his lips thoughtfully, grasping his helmet and settling it over his head again to flip down his visor to scan the writing. The result surprised him, seeing that it was Huttese and he didn't know how to speak or write the language. It implied the only option left: that it had been written on his skin by someone else. But then he would have to had recalled it happening, and he surely did not remember someone doing such an odd thing. He removed his helmet again, scratching a spot just beside one of his eyebrows, staring at the Huttese writing quizzically.