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Cody wakes from the first good night sleep he’s had in weeks to an unfamiliar weight sitting on his chest.
Now Cody is Marshal Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic. He commands 7th Sky Corps. He has faced down battalions of droids with nothing but his blaster. Has faced Sith and lived. Has the life of his brothers in his hands every single hour, minute, second of any given day until the end of his karking war.
Cody has faced down death with beskar in his spine and stubbornness in his eyes and lived.
Cody does not scream like a nat-born in the face of danger.
He raises the blaster hidden under his pillow instead. He blinks once, twice against the harsh light and the lingering of sleep only to find that said danger is a pair of dark eyes, a pair of triangle ears and a puffy tail wagging curiously.
A karking tooka.
The animal on his chest looks at him with its dark eyes that glisten almost ominously in the low lights of the small but private room, annoyed at being interrupted. It harrumphs at Cody and then continues kneading biscuits in Cody’s blacks while purring like an engine.
For a moment, even the continuous hum of the ship disappears as Cody’s world narrows down to the tooka on his chest.
The tooka on his chest.
“Waxer!”
There are several ways Cody had imagined spending his shore-leave.
Sitting in a crowded waiting room at a mid-level veterinary practice on Coruscant while people stare at his armor first and at the yowling devil in the carrier on his lap second wasn’t one of them.
He wishes he could scream his frustration to the world, but he has a reputation to uphold and a composure to keep.
So he lets the tooka do it for him instead, its howls and yowls sounding like it is suffering a slow and painful death.
At least it stopped trying to break out of the carrier.
He could’ve let one of the men take care of this. Had almost ordered Waxer and Boil—the completely expected culprits abducting a lonesome tooka on their last campaign. But if the tooka is going to stay on the Maverick—because Cody is, sadly enough, a sucker for both Wooley’s and the karking tooka’s big pleading eyes—he wants to know what to expect.
Also, despite current objections to being confined, the tooka actually likes Cody.
Likes to curl up on his chest when he sleeps, likes to stroke around his legs when he is in meetings and Waxer’s jealous face when the tooka preferred to sleep on Cody’s lap was priceless enough that Cody accepts the animal’s affections.
One of the veterinarians walks into the waiting room and Cody looks up expectantly. He’s been here a while, he really hopes it’s his turn.
Especially when he sees that it’s the handsome veterinarian.
Cody had noticed him straight away when entering the clinic. The man had been standing at the reception desk with an elderly lady and her equally as old tooka. Reddish brown hair, a neatly trimmed beard and kind blue eyes, Cody had certainly noticed how handsome the veterinarian was.
And then he’d smiled at the lady, offering her some comforting words on the welfare of her tooka and it was like a flash grenade had gone off in Cody’s chest.
The man looks down to his padd before letting his blue eyes—like the sky Cody had seen on his first campaign and thought looked a lot like freedom—sweep through the waiting room.
And settle on Cody.
Cody’s heart doesn’t skip a beat in his chest, thank you very much.
“Ah,” the man says and gives Cody a bemused look before glancing down at the howling carrier. “Sithspawn, I assume?”
In a helpful gesture, the tooka lets out a long, very loud yowl.
“Yes,” Cody says and for once he thanks the men of Ghost for their shenanigans because his experience with them is the only thing keeping his face neutral.
The man’s lips quirk up into a grin—eyes gleaming, little laugh lines around his lips, kark he’s handsome. “It’s your turn.”
Cody is equal parts relieved and embarrassed to follow the handsome man out of the waiting room.
“Usually the bad reactions are caused by the stress of being in a carrier and being brought into a new environment,” the man says with a kind smile, probably hoping to soothe Cody’s worries.
Cody wants to laugh. “His name is Sithspawn,” he says and follows the man into a treatment room. He puts the carrier down onto the table in the middle of the room. “Sithy for short. He’s hardly docile.”
He is being slightly unfair. There are only a few people Sithy loathes. Hilariously enough, upon seeing Rex the tooka had hissed and his brother had shooed the animal away calling it Sithspawn.
Naturally, Cody had called him that afterwards. The entirety of the 212th had disapproved, including his General.
So Cody kept the name.
“Fair enough,” the veterinarian chuckles, closing the door behind him. “I’m Dr. Kenobi, but you are welcome to call me Obi-Wan.”
“Cody,” he introduces himself, for once foregoing his title.
“And Sithy,” Obi-Wan says with a chuckle, opening the carrier and coaxing a suddenly rather docile tooka out.
Cody watches the tooka purr as his chin is scratched. The bastard.
“Aren’t you a handsome young man,” Obi-Wan cooes, scratching Sithy behind his ears. He turns his eyes to Cody. “Just like your owner.”
Cody awkwardly stands at the other side of the table. The extremely cute and handsome veterinarian is flirting with him.
He blushes. Fuck.
“Millions of faces just like mine,” he hears himself say and it’s a good thing Sithy can’t tell the men how terrible Cody is at this.
“I doubt that, Cody.” Obi-Wan smiles at him before looking down at the content tooka on the table. “So, what can I do for you today?”
Cody can do professionalism in his sleep. “A general check-up would be good. We picked up this stray from Felucia, but we have no vets onboard. Perhaps also some advice whether it is recommended to keep a tooka on a stardestroyer or not.”
Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow. “The GAR lets you keep tookas?”
Cody shrugs a bit awkwardly. “I’m a Marshal Commander, I can make those rules.”
Besides, the General had said it was good for morale which in Cody’s book counts as permission.
Obi-Wan looks surprised, his eyes sweeping over Cody again. It’s subtle, but it’s there.
Cody doesn’t preen.
“Ah, so you’re an important man,” Obi-Wan says and then offers: “I’ll be quick then. I doubt you wish to spend what little free time you have at our practice.”
Cody shakes his head with a grin. “I’m not so sure about that. The company isn’t all that bad.”
Obi-Wan chuckles. “Yes, this little guy is quite cute now that he’s out of his carrier.”
Cody raises an eyebrow. He’s got this. “I wasn’t talking about the tooka. But you are rather cute too, Obi-Wan.”
The other’s blush is dark against his light skin.
Cody feels rather victorious as Obi-Wan bashfully thanks him before getting to work.
Cody waits silently and patiently, answering any questions Obi-Wan has. Even if he isn’t able to provide proper answers to some of them, considering he has no idea on the tooka’s background.
“He is a healthy young man,” Obi-Wan concludes when he finishes his check-up. “If you bring him on the ship, I’d recommend some vaccinations considering we don’t know his vaccination history. How long are you on Coruscant? I can give you a leaflet on proper pet-care in space and ask reception to book an appointment for his vaccinations.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Cody says. And then, because he knows his men and the kind of trouble they can get into, asks: “Does your clinic have a hotline of some kind? In case I have questions after we depart.”
Obi-Wan shakes his head. “We don't unfortunately.” He gives Cody a shy smile and offers: “But how about I give you my private commcode.”
“You don’t have to!” Cody says before he can stop himself. Because damn, does he want that but not for any of the right reasons.
Although the grin that grows on Obi-Wan’s lips makes him think the offer is far from merely professional either.
He certainly hopes so.
“Nonsense. I’d be happy to help in case of any questions you might have,” Obi-Wan says. Then, hopeful and with a blush on his cheeks, he adds: “And if perhaps you are looking for some company while you are on Coruscant.”
Cody grins. “In that case, how about tonight?”
That night, Sithy is forced to spend a lonely night on Cody’s unoccupied bed.
But all is fine in the end, when the next day Cody comes back with a soft smile on his lips and a bag of quality tooka-snacks.