Work Text:
Tick, tick, tick.
Fox wasn’t sure why they even had an analogue chrono. His comm and datapad would tell time well enough, he didn’t need the blasted thing ticking away on the other side of the room. It was persistent, a steady beat of a noise. It was one thing when his foot bounced up and down, creating a pleasing noise on the floor below him. But it was another when it was something he wasn’t actively controlling.
Tick, tick, tick .
His eye twitched, and his hands clenched. That chrono was getting on his nerves, taking away his ability to focus on the stack of flimsi he was supposed to be going through. It all needed to get done by tonight. (Well, really, it needed to be done tomorrow, but tomorrow he was required to help the Chancellor with something, which would take away most of his time to finish.)
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The noise seemed to grow louder. Penetrating into his very brain. The flimsi was all but discarded as he tried, and tried hard, to ignore the chrono. It was fine. It was fine, it was just a noise he could work through it. Still, his leg increased it’s pace, clanking with the ground hard enough to make a significant noise.
TICK. TICK. TICK.
With a growl, he reached down for one of his pistols, and shot the damned object point blank. It shattered, melting and exploding in shards of glass, plastic, and fire. The remnants crashed to the ground, smoking.
“Well, someone’s pissy,” Cody’s voice said from the doorway.
Despite the small amount of joy Fox felt in seeing his vod’ika again, Fox ignored him and elected to flip him off. He loved Cody, sure, but god forbid he actually show it. The kid would know he cared whether he showed it or not.
Cody chuckled, stepping into the room. He wasn’t in his armour, instead he was in his deck uniform, the grays… unflattering especially with the hat. Still, it was odd to see Cody outside of his armour, and in Fox’s office no less.
“When’d you get back?” Fox grumbled, barely looking up from his datapad. God his head hurt, the light on the ‘pad was intense. Was there a dimming feature? Someone needed to add one. It would help with the intensity of it, too. Maybe lessen digital eye strain.
Cody slid easily into his ‘visitor’s’ chair despite how awful it was. The chair was made for one specific species that happened to be on the Separatists side. But the structure rendered it unbearable to anyone else, as they didn’t have the limbs the species did.
Cody responded, “A few hours ago. But you know how it is, had to go through docking procedures and all of that. Have you been in here all day?”
Talking was easier. Talking while working. He could do that, while managing to get the pile smaller. At least Cody wasn’t pulling him away from the work, that’s when Fox would have a problem.
“No,” he answered, “I started out in the prison, then I had to escort the Chancellor, and then I was able to come in here uh… roughly five hours ago?”
His brother let out a long suffering sigh, disappointment clear in that heavy exhale. For the first time since Cody entered, Fox looked up at his little brother. Honestly, Cody would be a hypocrite if he started berating Fox. How many times had Fox heard of both Cody and Kenobi avoiding medical? Not taking a break was nothing compared to trying to fix up a broken arm alone. At least Fox went to the medics when he needed to.
“ Ibac nu'jahaala ,” Cody scolded sternly. “Gar liniba hiibir jate'shya ul g'ast .”
“ Naas ,” Fox snapped back, responding Cody’s firm gaze with his own. “ Tayli’bac ?”
Cody looked taken aback, shocked by Fox’s tone and words. The younger Commander frowned, averting his gaze, “ N’eparavu takisit .”
“Good.”
Fox turned back to his work, and tried not to flip out on Cody the same way he had the chrono. He understood that Cody was worried, but Fox… Fox hated it. Hated the hovering, being told how to care for himself. Still, Cody didn’t know what it was like here. There was no room for a break in his schedule, not with everything he needed to balance.
“You’re doing paperwork?”
Closing his eyes, he inhaled attempting to curb his anger before it got ahead of him. He would not snap at his brother. He would not.
“Yes.”
“I could help?”
Snap.
Well shit. There went his favorite stylus. Pitty, that was a gift from Senator Amidala, who had given it to him after he had bitched about his not having the right grip. For that alone, he was tempted to deck Cody.
“Will you shut up?” He hissed, unfortunately losing himself to his frustration. First the clock, now Cody, he just wanted some peace.
Cody stepped back, his expression falling, “Fox-”
Whatever. Cody would understand that he was stressed and didn’t mean to snap. Things would be fine later. He didn’t need Cody bugging him while he tried to complete the rest of- of.
Fox unclenched his fist, then clenched it again, flexing the muscles of his fingers. There was energy pent up in him that wanted to release, and it seemed it would be in anger. It hummed under his skin, making him antsy.
There was a moment of silence when Cody spoke with a gentle, but not soft, tone, “ Ori’vod , I was just offering to help. I wasn’t trying to bother you.”
Oh-
Just… another thing on the list of things he did wrong that day. All of Fox’s anger flushed out of him, disappearing as fast as it had arrived. Slumping against his desk, he closed his eyes and remained silent. Maybe Cody would just go away, maybe he would just… leave Fox alone. They didn’t have to talk, or talk about this.
“ Cuyi gar ver’la? ”
It really was a simple question. But it just… rubbed him the wrong way. It was almost like Cody was mocking him, questioning whether he was fit for duty or not. He was. He was more than fit for duty, he could do this. He had to do this.
“Fox?”
With a hiss, Fox realized that tears had started to fall down his face. Furious with himself, for falling apart like this in front of Cody, he rubbed them away. It was so easy to reach for his helmet and to put it on, forcing himself to focus on the flimsi. It didn’t matter that the letters blurred together, or that it was starting to get warm under the helmet due to heat from his face from crying.
Cody, the bastard, still didn’t leave. He stood there, eyes wide like a- like a- Fox couldn’t think of a proper analogy. Why wouldn’t he just leave? He was clearly not welcome. But at least he was quiet, letting Fox drown himself in his work again. With no distractions, it was so much easier to focus wholly on his work.
It felt like minutes in the awkward silence, but it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds when he felt his helmet being taken off. The first bit of light filtered in, as Cody slowly pulled it off, causing Fox to panic. He pushed away from the other Commander, slamming the helmet back on and keeping his face neutral, despite the tears falling harder.
He made some sort of noise, but the words got stuck in his throat, heavy and thick. Fox can’t speak, can’t tell Cody to stay away.
Cody knelt down in front of him, hands hovering but not quite touching. He didn’t have to, Fox could almost feel the touch already. His skin tingled like Cody was. Every nerve in his body was screaming to move away, to get away. But he couldn’t- shouldn’t. He’d already lost it enough in front of his brother. Yet- he couldn’t help it. One moment he was fine, but now everything was too much, the lights were too bright, sounds were too loud, touching was too much god Cody please don't touch-
Mercifully, Cody backed up, keeping his hands to himself. Still looking like a fish out of water, he sat down, cross legged on the floor. Every scrape of his clothes against the floor echoed throughout the room, the sounds of his shoes thudding against the ground. Fox could almost hear the clock still. His blacks were too light, too full, too much on his skin and he wanted them off but he couldn’t bear to take them off. He wanted his armour more than anything in that moment. The helmet informed him that he needed to breathe, to calm down and relax his heart rate, but he couldn’t. More tears fell and he hated the saltiness of them, hated how warm and thick they were.
Then- then suddenly there was a weight being lowered onto him, fitting on his chest snug. Hands brushed against his blacks, and he tried hard not to flinch away from them. Finally, the chestplate sat comfortably, applying a comforting weight. His back plate followed, Cody being extra cautious this time to keep from touching Fox. Slowly, Cody put on his armour piece by piece, and Fox felt himself begin to calm down. When finished, Cody stepped back and dimmed the lights, letting Fox’s eyes have a break.
Eventually, his breathing returned back to normal. His senses stopped overwhelming him, calming back down to a normal level. His body felt exhausted and sore from the tenseness of his muscles from before. Paperwork wouldn’t be achievable the rest of the night, this much he could recognize. But that thought only sent another wave of panic through him.
Tap. Tap.
Fox glanced over at Cody, who he could still see in the low light. His brother was signing something to him, not speaking.
Alright?
Nodding, Fox swallowed and signed back.
Sorry. Don’t know what happened.
Alright. Worried for moment. I helped right?
Cody’s sign was still a bit broken. He wasn’t undercover as much as Fox was, and his hand signs were usually for commanding on a field. It made sense that his sentences would be shorter, choppier. More one worded. But Fox was used to communicating through sign. With Quinlan, with the Guard. Hell, he had even learned BSL for the senate, when they needed an interpreter.
You did good, brother. Fox responded, smiling behind his helmet. It always felt better expressing when his face was hidden, almost more safe.
Good . Cody sat back, relief clear on his face. Want me stay?
If you want. You don’t have to.
Want.
Cody sighed, dropping his hands for a moment. Sorry , he signed eventually, wanted help you.
“You-” Fox tried, clearing his throat, “You can talk now.”
“Okay,” Cody responded gently, voice low as to not disturb the quietness of the room. “I wasn’t trying to mock you, or imply anything earlier. I was genuinely offering to help because I know you’re stressed. I stopped by because I thought you would be cooped up here. I know you’re capable, and able to do it. I just was wondering if you wanted some help”
Oh- he. He hadn’t expected that. Very few people looked out for him like that, and some of those who did would do it in a manner that set Fox off. They would imply he couldn’t do it alone. Quinlan, Thorn, Cody now, were the only ones to recognize that he could do this on his own.
“I wouldn’t mind it,” Fox answered, giving in. “I could use the help. I’m… I’m tired.”
It was such a rare admission from him, so much so that he wasn’t surprised to see the shock on Cody’s face. Cody then nodded, stood, and helped Fox up, sliding a chair over to sit beside Fox.
“I’ll owe you a drink, vod’ika ,” Fox mused, looking over at Cody.
Cody gave him a small wry grin, shaking his head, “No. I’m not looking for anything in return.”
Fox chose not to respond, instead turning to his work to get it done. It went by a lot faster with Cody by his side, and before long, they finished. There were a few papers left, but those could be handled in the morning.
Cody cleared his throat, breaking the silence that had fallen between them, “Can I- Can I hug you?”
Very few people actually asked. The sentiment wasn’t lost on him, knowing that Cody was being weary of his boundaries.
“Yeah,” he answered, stepping into his brother’s space, and hugging him close.
Responding quickly, Cody wrapped his arms around Fox’s chest. Maybe letting people help… wasn’t too bad afterall. He would certainly get enough sleep this night, and for the first time, he was thankful for it.