Chapter Text
Fox sighed as he watched the bright lights of the City and speeders pass by. There had been a report filed about a restaurant owner and a uncooperative customer who had created a scene and refused to leave. Was this what he wanted to deal with after dealing with senators and stacks of datapads all day? Not In the slightest.
He saw the sign of the diner in the distance, it seemed like a cozy place. He personally hadn't been yet. But according to some of his troopers and many of the gar troopers. Nella's Diner was very welcoming to clones. Sure there was Dex's and 79's, but there was something special about Nella's. She apparently not only had affordable pricing for clones, but her food was actually good quality.
Despite all that, she was still a nat-born so Fox didn't trust her. When the speeder was parked he got off and walked over to the diner with two Courscant troopers on either side of him. He walked inside and quickly scanned the room before spotting an older woman with black hair tied back in a low ponytail, her hair seemed to be layered and she had some grey coming in at her roots. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at a trandoshan man who was yelling at her about something.
Nella, he figured out due to her name tag, looked over at Fox and her shoulders sagged in relief for a moment before waving him over. "Please get this man out of my diner. I would do it myself but I'm a bit too old to be getting In trouble with the law." She said while shooting a glare at the trandoshan man.
Fox was a bit surprised by her attitude, but he ignored it and gestured for the two troopers to take the man outside. He watched as the struggled a bit with restraining him, but once Fox was sure they had things under control he turned his attention to Nella.
"What happened here, ma'am." He asked, taking out a piece of flimsi to write down any important details.
"Oh please, call me Nella, Nell, or Nells." She smiled as she crossed her arms over her chest, seeming much more relaxed than she was only a few moments prior. "And that man came in and started throwing a fit because of my customers." Fox raised an eyebrow underneath his helmet and quickly scanned the Diner, realizing a majority of the seats and booths that were taken were occupied by clones. "I tried to defuse the situation and told him to leave, but he kept throwing a fit. Eventually one of my cooks called you, the Courscant guard. Not much happened other than him causing a scene." She sighed, shaking her head slightly.
Fox wrote down the more important information because stuffing the flimsi into one of the pouches on his belt. "I'm assuming you want to take some form of legal action?" Fox said, resisting the urge to groan just at the thought of more paperwork. "I just want to get him banned." Nella responded as she kept her hands on her hips. Well, that wouldn't be too much work.
"Alright ma- Nella, we can sort that out for you." Fox nodded before turning around and starting to walk towards the door. Just before he could leave he heard her call out "hold on! What's your name?" Fox paused, feeling uncertain about giving his name out to a stranger. But there was something inviting about her, so he stamped down that feeling of uneasy and gave her his name. "Fox, Marshal commander Fox."
"Oh, marshal commander! I think Cody's one of those, I hear Boil and waxer talking about him a lot." Nella laughed before smiling. "Well, Fox. Hold on just a moment!" She said before quickly disappearing into what he assumed was the kitchen. He sighed and crossed his arms, wanting to get back to his work already.
Thankfully he didn't have to wait long because soon enough Nella came back out with a to-go container and a to-go cup. "Here's a grilled bantha-meat wrap with some fried ouvvar. Plus a cup of caf because, no offense, you sound exhausted." Nella smiled as she handed over the container and cup, the heat from both of the items very pleasant.
"..ouvvar? I don't think I've ever heard of that before." Fox spoke, a bit cautious about what it what. "Oh, they're these eels found on some swamp planets, if you chop off the head, fins, and remove some of the organs all you gotta do is fry it. It's nice a crispy, and packed full of protein. I also added some sauces if you don't like them bland." Nella told Fox, that smile still on her face. Fox only offered a nod in response before leaving.
Later that day Fox sat in his office, the cup of caf long empty and the wrap gone. He only had a few pieces of the fried ouvvar left. He hated to admit it but he loved how it tasted, whether that was from the lack of food options and flavors that were supplied by the Republic, or if the ouvvar was really that good, he wasn't sure.
He was chewing on one piece, half of it sticking out of his mouth as he filled out yet another report. Maybe Nella wasn't that bad after all. He wouldn't trust her yet, but she was slowly growing on him with every chew of the fried food.
A few weeks later he saw Thorn and Thire in the Commander barracks, a few containers of different foods around them as they talked and ate. Fox walked a bit closer before realizing that it was the takeout containers of Nella's. "Did you guys stop by Nella's for lunch or something?" He questioned, his gaze lingering on the entire container of fried ouvvar.
"Oh, she had a problem with a customer who was upset about the clones in the Diner. We got called out to deal with it, and she gave us some food as a thank you." Thorn shrugged before taking a bit of some sort of sandwich.
"Yeah, she said to give this to you." Thire shrugged as he held out a cup of caf to Fox. The marshal commander was a bit surprised, but removed his helmet and grabbed the cup before taking a sip.
Thorn watched him for a moment before laughing. "You keep eyeing the ouvvar like a starving Tooka. Why don't you join us?" Thire snickered, hiding his laughs by taking another bite of his own food. Fox coldly glared at Thorn, but sat down and joined them nonetheless.
Overtime, it became common for Nella to give the guard food whenever they stopped by to deal with yet another bratty customer of her's. And Fox even realized that the guard seemed a bit more Fuller and energetic when she had partnered up with Dex to send any extra food that they had to the Courscant guard. They weren't starving anymore, sure they weren't in the best shape because Nella and Dex couldn't always donate food, they still needed make money after all. But it was better than before.
And Fox had become the unofficial reviewer for whenever the chefs tried something new with the ouvvar. Those little eels were quite addictive, and Fox couldn't help but let himself indulge just a bit.