Work Text:
The first time he saw him, he looked like a drowned womp rat.
The second time he saw him, he had looked anguished while his padawan was more concerned with some lady. (Who he later learned was Senator Amidala, and a brilliant woman.)
The third time he saw him was merely the beginning of what would be countless hours spent picking a lightsaber up after General Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Cody did not have great opinions of the Jedi, despite knowing he had been made for them. He would, of course, follow orders. He did follow orders. He was a good soldier. The problem many of the clones had with the Jedi was a rather large one. Not all Jedi were good soldiers. They treated the vod'e like cannon fodder, didn't think twice about the caulisties that would mount up from yet another poorly planned battle tactic.
They only saw identical helmets, no matter how much the vod decorated them in an attempt at being unique.
Obi-Wan, his General, wasn't like that. No, Obi-Wan was painfully self sacrificial. Cody saw the way he threw himself into danger to protect the vod'e, his brothers, and he saw how he made a point of learning their actual names. Cody was well aware that the high quality paint that was always present for the fresh faced cadets was simply because of Obi-Wan. The General got this ghost of a smile whenever he saw the newest design on a piece of armor. (Now, if only Cody could convince the man to put on more armor, not mysteriously wear less and less of the stuff.)
Cody had watched his General go toe to toe with other Jedi, watched as he argued that the clones were not just toy soldiers. He saw the way the war was weighing on Obi-Wan, his shoulders had started to slump slightly, and the circles under his eyes were painful to witness. Bruised, blemished, a reminder that his General bled duty and compassion. He was, frankly, killing himself for people that lacked compassion.
His General was an idiot and brilliant at the same time. Cody had started trying to be there for him because it was clear the man wasn't going to be there for himself. It started with a mug of tea, the cheap stuff he bought off Rex for a pack of snap candy. Obi-Wan had frozen slightly after taking a distracted sip of the tea from the mug that had been shoved in his hand. Cody assumed the stuff was vile, but the General smiled at him softly and murmured his thanks. Leave it to the General to not complain about the taste, Cody just sighed and shook his head slightly. Di'kut.
He ramped up his actions by giving his General pieces of hard candy while he was reading yet another report. Obi-Wan always took them without thinking and spent far too long sucking on the sugary things. Cody had a habit of just biting into his, letting the candy shatter inside his mouth. He, honestly, didn't get how the General could make one piece last so long.
Then came the day he stood in the corner of the room while the General was on a call with the Council. The man had looked at him, but hadn't dismissed him, merely gave a brief nod of acknowledgement before pulling up the holo images of the other Jedi in a brilliant blue. The conversation wasn't pretty, it was almost cruel, and Obi-Wan argued for over an hour how they must find another way to the end war efforts. The toll was catastrophic. Obi-Wan pointed out that even the vod'e needed rest, needed a chance to live their lives. They deserved more than this war was giving them. Cody could only stand there, listening, and stare.
The Jedi were Peacekeepers, not soldiers.
General Obi-Wan Kenobi had melded himself into what was required to protect the vod'e. He was a warrior.
That was a man he wanted to be beside forever.
Cody waited a few cycles before he moved onto his next idea to make Obi-Wan take some kriffing self care time. They were in the General's cramped quarters with a pile of datapads threatening to fall off the table. Obi-Wan was frowning while he read something, piece of candy pressed up against the inside of his cheek. Cody could faintly make out the outline as he moved silently to his General's side. He sank down to his knees, next to the man sitting on a pillow on the floor, and debated his actions for a moment.
Good soldiers followed orders. He was supposed to be protecting the Jedi, fighting a war for them, but somehow over the time of trying to make sure his General didn't die from lack of eating, sleeping, or the like, he had started to feel something other than mere respect. His heart was pounding in his chest and he noticed how those blue eyes flicked away from reading to glance at him for a second, as if assessing whether or not he was about to go into cardiac arrest. Whatever Obi-Wan saw there must have not been too awful because the man went back to reading the list of required supplies. Running a war was expensive and actually took a bit of clerical work. Work Cody should have been doing, but the General insisted on helping.
Cody finally leaned forward and pressed a kiss to just the edge of his General's mouth. The Jedi froze for a second, but didn't yank back. Cody took that as a good sign and pushed a kiss against the General's lips. They were soft, while whiskers tickled his own upper lip, and he found the whole experience pleasant. Obi-Wan looked faintly amused when Cody finally pulled back.
"As fascinating as this is, my dear Cody, we are supposed to be working," the candy shifted from one side of Obi-Wan's mouth to the other. Cody could see the bright yellow orb flash behind teeth in the journey while Obi-Wan talked.
"With all due respect, General, you need a distraction. We've been at these reports for hours and you've only had anything to eat when I shove it in your stubborn hand," Cody said with a little more heat than he had intended on. His General raised an eyebrow before making a show of turning his gaze back to the datapad in his hands.
Cody bit back a sigh at how stubborn his Jedi insisted on being and redid the battle plan in his head. He shifted closer, leaning over Obi-Wan, one hand planted on the edge of the pillow, and gave his General another kiss. He poured warmth, exasperated fondness into the kiss and finally felt the other lips move against his. Cody brought his free hand to cup the back of Obi-Wan's head as he deepened the kiss. The data pad slipped from the man's hands and bounced off Cody's thigh before hitting the ground with a muffled thump. Cody didn't care, he didn't care they weren't working. He fully planned on tiring out his General so the man actually slept.
"Cody," Obi-Wan cried out in surprise when he was suddenly pushed backward. Cody merely smirked down at his General, not giving one care about all the datapads that were now tumbling off the table, Obi-Wan may have kicked it during his short fall to the ground. He hoped they broke.
"General," Cody collapsed on top of him to make sure the other couldn't move. "I am pulling rank, since you are a di'kut that isn't taking care of themselves."
"This is hardly necessary! I take perfectly fine care of mysel-" Obi-Wan flushed under the look Cody shot his way. "Ah."
"Ah, indeed." Cody was going to protect this man from himself, one distracting kiss at a time.