Chapter Text
Before the war, Obi-Wan hadn’t ever really considered night-time on Coruscant to be particularly peaceful. Traffic still rushed through the speeder lanes in hostile droves outside the temple windows, he still received a vast assortment of communications from the more nocturnal demographic, it was still Coruscant.
After the war, Obi-Wan rather thought there could be no place anywhere in the galaxy as safe and tranquil as the comfort of his own quarters.
Tomorrow was one of his ‘‘rest days’’ (the medics and healers had signed a petition for the Jedi High Council members, suggesting a work rotation in which every member had at least one entire day off each week, and there was at least one guaranteed day that all Counselors would be on-duty simultaneously. It seemed to be working brilliantly, Helix was very proud), and he was rather looking forwards to having a bit of a lie-in, but in order to stay in bed late, one had to go to bed in the first place. and Obi-Wan was missing a key element of his new bedtime routine.
Already dressed in his night tunics, Obi-Wan slid on fuzzily clad feet into their living space, where Cody sat hunched over something in his lap. Doing a quick, preemptive scan for stray needles, Obi-Wan plopped himself down next to him on the couch and peered down at Cody’s current embroidery project. It was a medium sized hoop, about the diameter of a large dinner plate, and Cody had outlined the silhouette of The Negotiator with basic stitches onto the starry, space=patterned fabric. Some sections had since been filled in with metallic grey thread, while others had clearly been abandoned in favor of stitching bright little moons, planets, and suns, like the one Cody was working on right then. He shifted his feet to lay flat on the floor and make more space for Obi-Wan, should he want it, but otherwise made no move to acknowledge his presence.
That was alright; Obi-Wan could use more than enough words for both of them.
“That looks lovely, Cody, and didn’t you only start this one earlier today? I quite like the way you’ve got us pointed towards the Unknown Regions in it, seems quite fitting with us all starting off on new adventures”
“Mmhm.” A little smile pulled at the side of Cody’s mouth, and he pressed his right leg against Obi-Wan’s where he’d curled up to sit sideways on the couch.
“You planning to come to bed anytime soon? Or shall I find us a documentary?”
“You go ahead, I’ll change and join you when I’m done.”
“Oh no, I’d much rather wait with you if we’re staying up.”
“Cody briefly paused in his stitching to shoot him one of his “I am the Marshall Commander and I care greatly for your well being so you will care as well or we will have words about it” looks. “Obi-Wan. Even if we’re on leave tomorrow I don’t want you missing out on sleep because of me, I’ll be fine finishing this out here by myself.”
“Ah, but that will take hours, and you misunderstand the most important part of my evening.” said Obi-Wan. He snaked his arms underneath Cody’s and avoided jostling any of the supplies in his lap as he nestled closer and rested his chin on Cody’s shoulder, pressing a lingering kiss underneath his ear as he settled. “Cuddles are much superior to unconsciousness. I can wait.”
Obi-Wan lasted less than an hour before the first yawn slipped out. He made it another quarter hour before the second, but after that it was a losing battle. He didn't realize he’d fallen asleep until Cody was gently setting him down on their bed and tucking the blankets over Obi-Wan as he turned to go back to his projects. Squinting blearily at the chrono, Obi-Wan winced when he saw they had surpassed “late”, and were well into “unreasonably early” by this point. He braced himself up on his elbows, freeing a hand from the blankets and catching Cody’s wrist with it as he started walking away.
“Cody? Are you not coming to bed?”
Cody immediately about-faced and hugged Obi-Wan close, petting his hair soothingly, “Hey, hey, it’s okay, relax treasure, I’m only going to the other room, I’ll be back in a little while, okay?”
While Obi-Wan didn’t particularly need soothing this time, the hand stroking his hair did feel rather nice, distracting though it may be. Obi-Wan shook himself.
“I’m not worried, I’m just confused? Why can’t you finish it tomorrow, you need sleep too.”
“I’d rather just finish it tonight.”
“It’s not even night anymore though? It’s almost three in the morning, what difference does waiting a few hours make?”
Cody didn’t answer for several minutes. Obi-Wan almost thought he wasn’t going to answer at all, and when he did it was far quieter than Cody usually spoke, even for the middle of the night. “Because I like doing it, Obi-Wan, and I don’t want to just abandon it only halfway completed.”
What? Oh, oh Cody no. Obi-Wan tugged Cody’s hands off of his head so he could look Cody in the eyes, grasping them reassuringly in his lap instead. “Cody. Sunshine. You’re not abandoning anything. You can still finish it tomorrow, nobody’s going to take it from you, and even if they tried we wouldn’t let them.” Cody’s grip tightened and he averted his gaze.
Obi-Wan’s voice went even softer. “I know it feels like you have to take advantage of this as much as you can while you’ve the chance, but I promise you; it will still be here tomorrow, love.”
He watched as bit by bit, the tension and well-concealed anxiety stubbornly clinging to Cody’s shoulders unwound. It wasn’t gone forever, not with a single conversation, but Obi-Wan would be here for the next conversation, and the next one, and all of the next ones after that. Just like Cody would be there for his own struggles. Cody didn’t bother changing into his nightclothes, he merely undressed to his undershirt and boxers and cuddled close to Obi-Wan under the covers, entwining their legs and allowing Obi-Wan to pull him tight against his chest. Night-time on Coruscant might not always be the most peaceful, but this was Obi-Wan’s happily after the war, and Cody’s, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.