Chapter Text
Cody had finally finished the last of his paperwork for the day, all he needed was the general's signature on a few of the datapads. He picked up the datapads that needed to be signed and headed to the general quarters. When he arrived at the room, he knocked on the door. No answer. He tried to call on his comm, again no response. Cody’s thoughts were quickly filled with worry, so he decided to punch in the emergency override code. The door opened with a mechanic hiss and Cody stepped quickly into the room. He expected to find the general injured, or just not there, but instead he saw the general sound asleep at his desk. Any worries he may have had subsided. He carefully placed the datapads on the desk, and then walked around to the general’s side. The general looked so peaceful, resting his arms on his desk and then using his own arms as a pillow. It seemed that he was also in the middle of paperwork, the evidence being a small stack of completed data pads next to the sleeping Jedi.
The commander carefully picked up the sleeping man, and placed him on his bed. Once he covered the Jedi with the blanket, he heard a faint hum that sounded like the general had a smile on his face under the blanket. Cody absentmindedly moved some hair out of the generals face before whispering “ jate ca jetiise ”
Cody left the room with a soft smile on his face, and headed toward the barracks.
---
He had been slaying in his bunk for a few hours, armor had been taken off and set in its correct place, a few of the vode were even moments from sleep. He was tired enough to be a part of those few, except he had a feeling he needed to be awake just a little longer. For once in his life he was exhausted and ready to sleep, but his mind convinced him to stay awake. It wasn’t even his normal “You need to stay awake to protect the vode” feeling he would get on missions. This was different. He was on board the ship, everyone was safe, paperwork was done, yet his mind kept telling him to stay awake.
Giving up on sleeping, he sat up in his bunk and decided to join in on the conversations that were happening around him. Boil and Waxer were having yet another arm wrestling match, some others cheering them on from their bunks.
“Don’t you all have sleep to catch up on?” The commander rolled his eyes, but in amusement.
“Oh come on Cody! This is our tie breaker round, you’ve missed all the others” Waxer was talking to Cody, but never took his focus off of Boil.
“Oh so this is a normal thing?”
“To be fair, you’re always either doing paperwork, or with the general-” Crys actually looked at Cody to talk to him, but Longshot cut off his last few words.
“Yeah that or doing paperwork with the general, which I’m pretty sure is just euphemism for something else.” He chuckled. Cody wasn’t sure if they were laughing at what longshot said, or his reaction to what longshot said. Apparently his facial expression was rather unusual and funny to them. He wasn’t sure what face he made, he did his best to stay normal.
“Longshot that’s ridiculous. When I say I’m working with the general, I mean we’re sitting at a table going over paperwork together. Nothing mo-” Mid word, Cody felt a sense of fear and anxiety wash over him. Something was very very wrong. Nothing was wrong in the current room, aside from the others being ridiculous as they normally were. It was out of this room. Cody stood up, still feeling the waves of fear and anxiety. “I...I have to go” He sounded unsure of himself but he had made up his mind to figure out the cause of the fear. His mind was telling him to head directly to the generals quarters. He had no idea why he thought to go there first, but he needed to check to see if the general was alright.
“Woah you okay?” Helix looked at him with concern.
“Something...is wrong” Again, Cody sounded unsure of the situation. He wasn’t sure why he was leaving, he just knew he had to.
“Uh oh, The general alarm is going off again” Boil was the one to joke this time, his comment made Waxer lose his focus and Boil won the arm wrestling match. Which earned a loud Kriff! from Waxer.
“I-”
“Go check on him commander, we’re not going anywhere. He might need you” Helix smiled slightly at him. Cody didn’t say anything else he just left the room, not bothering to put his armor back on his body.
---
Cody didn’t run but he did rush to the general’s room. When he arrived he immediately punched in the emergency override code, and stepped in as soon as the door opened. Once inside he found then Jedi sat on his bed, head in his hands, and shaking. The Light was still off, but the wave of fear was even stronger now that he was closer to the general. Cody slowly approached the bed and spoke softly.
“General..? Can I sit next to you?”
The Jedi’s head popped up out of his hands, his eyes were wide, and there were tear stains on his cheeks. “C...Cody?”
Cody nodded, and he felt the anxiety easing off just slightly. He repeated himself. “General, Are you okay with me sitting next to you.”
The general nodded, but spoke very quietly. “Please...just call me Obi-wan…”
“Right, sorry” Cody sat next to the ge- Obi-wan (a few weeks ago Obi-wan insisted that Cody call him by his first name when it was just them, Cody still had to be reminded.) Once Cody was sitting on the bed next to Obi-wan, he noticed that the situation may be worse then he first thought. “Obi-wan. Can you tell me five things you can see?”
Obi-wan was quiet for a minute, but his shaky voice eventually filled the silence, “You...the wall...the blanket...my hands...the datapads glowing on the desk.”
“Very good, now four things you can touch”
Obi-wan began to slowly move his arms and touch what he could, “My robes...the blanket...my hair...the wall”
“Three things you can hear?”
“Your voice, my voice, my tea brewer”
“Two things you can smell?”
“Tea and the old cup of caf that’s on my desk” His words were getting a lot better, throughout this whole process Cody kept a soft smile on his face.
“And then one thing you can taste”
“...salt, probably from the unexpected tears...what was this for Cody?”
“Rex taught it to me, it’s meant to help ground someone in reality, and naming things around you helps get someone’s mind off of their anxiety.” The feeling of fear that Cody had felt back in the barracks, had nearly completely vanished. Obi-wan seemed grateful for Cody's presence and as well as the exercise.
“Thank you...I do feel a bit better...How did you know I needed someone?”
“I’m...not sure...I was sitting in the barracks and got a massive wave of fear, and my mind told me that you were in trouble. It’s happened before, but usually it’s when you’re about to do something reckless or need my help. I don’t know, I just knew I needed to come here”
As if with that comment, the fear was replaced with content and happiness. Cody could almost feel Obi-wan calming down. Obi-wan looked at him with a soft smile, then moved his hands up to try to dry his face of any stray tears. “Well, I must apologize. You shouldn’t have had to see me like this. But I do thank you for helping me calm down.”
“G-Obi-wan, don’t apologize. I am always here if you need me.” They weren’t physically touching, but Cody wanted to grab the Jedi's hands and be physically comforting. He kept feeling things that he was certain were not his feelings. He felt comfort and love and care, they couldn’t be coming from Obi-wan could they? No certainly not. “Will you be alright if I leave you to return to sleep?”
“Yes...Well possibly. If you are uncomfortable with this, I will understand. But could I ask you to stay until I fall asleep again. Your presence is comforting to me. It is alright with me if you say no” He wasn’t looking into Cody’s eyes, he seemed almost embarrassed.
“Of course sir” Cody started to move so that he could sit on the floor, next to Obi-wan’s side. However as he stood up from the bed, Obi-wan stopped him by placing a hand on his arm, which just confused Cody. “Sir?”
Obi-wan looked embarrassed, but he needed comforting still. Cody could feel rushes of wanting physical contact. Quickly Obi-wan released his hand and curled back into himself. “Actually, I think I’ll be alright. You can go commander.”
Cody could then feel the anxiety returning, he wasn’t sure why he could feel what his general was feeling, but it helped him understand the situation at hand. “Oh.” He breathed out, before positioning himself next to Obi-wan on the bed. He laid down and brought Obi-wan down to lay next to him. Obi-wan was now laying on Cody’s chest, his ear close enough to Cody’s heart to hear the heartbeat. Cody rested an arm around Obi-wan and the other arm laid at his own side. Obi-wan’s were still close to his chest, as he seemed to still be curled into a ball. Cody pulled the blanket up to cover both of them. He knew he was blushing like crazy, but this was no time to be thinking about his crush on the man resting on him. This was just something to help Obi-wan calm down, and Cody was more than willing to do anything he could to help. Cody heard a very soft ‘thank you’ come from Obi-wan at the same time that the Jedi gripped the fabric of Cody’s blacks.
They didn’t speak after that. Cody never even asked what the nightmare had been about, it wasn’t his business. Thankfully the general was calmer now, and sleeping soundly in Cody’s arms. Cody promised himself to only stay until the general fell asleep, and then he would head back to the barracks. This did not happen. Once he knew the Jedi was asleep, he fell asleep seconds after.