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Water was never really Cody’s thing, which meant when they first touched down on Thorag and discovered one mass continent, with the rest of the planet being either shallows and deep oceanic trenches, he knew he was fucked.
Fighting in at least knee deep water on the constantly darkened planet wasn’t ideal either. He knew it was stupid, especially considering where a majority of his life had taken place, but he really hated it. He was pretty sure Obi-Wan had caught on as well, because there was an occasional brush of amusement against his shields, mixed with a sort of pity. He hated that more.
But in the end, it didn’t stop them pushing back the Separatists, and with the fighting having been projected to carry on a week longer than it did, they had some downtime on the planet.
Cody spent most of it on the venator, which they’d landed near the capital city of Borak’ir, going over datapads and requisition requests. He had most of the officer’s sector to himself, seeing as how most people had elected to join the men in their celebration planetside, but Waxer passed by every now and then to make sure he wasn’t working himself to death.
It was kind of nice, being away from the daily hustle and bustle he was so accustomed to. He even let himself set up his personal pad with a holo show he’d found when he searched for the most popular one of the year. He didn’t really know what he liked so he generally went with the top charts for music, shows, and sometimes even bars on Coruscant.
The point is, he wasn’t really thinking anyone was on board with him when he put on some holo about Coruscanti models and started working. He was in the middle of doing a brilliant job of multitasking as he ate lunch, went through Skywalker’s report on Separatist activity on Ryloth, and watched Genifuur get her shit rocked because she stole another model’s heels when Obi-Wan walked in. Cody paused with his food halfway to his mouth, before quickly pausing the show and setting his spoon down, straightening up and clearing his throat.
“What do you need, General?”
A smile slowly curled over Obi-Wan’s face as he took in the scene, apparently recognizing whatever Cody was watching, “Is that Coruscant’s Next Top Model?”
Cody felt a slight blush rising in his cheeks, “The statistics I found indicated most audiences enjoyed it.”
“The statistics - oh, Cody,” Obi-Wan laughed as he approached, “You know you can just pick something at random, right? You don’t have to research it first.”
Cody shifted in his seat as he looked between the holo and Obi-Wan, “It’s not terrible,” he mumbled.
Obi-Wan gave him a look, “Of course it is. That’s the whole appeal.”
Cody looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed, before realizing Obi-Wan probably hadn’t come here to talk about the merits of trashy holos Cody was wasting his time with, “Was there, er, something you wanted from me?”
Obi-Wan gave him an odd glance at the subject change, but spoke as he turned Cody’s pad around and hit play despite his earlier dismissal, “I wanted to see if you wanted to come down to the shore with me tonight. It’s probably our last night here that won’t be spent packing or in meetings, and you haven’t gotten out much.”
“Oh,” Cody felt an entirely different kind of blush settle across his face, cursing Jango Fett for having such awful genetics, “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not a big fan of the ocean.”
“I noticed,” Obi-Wan mused as he perched on Cody’s desk, a small smile playing across his face as he kept his eyes trained on the show, “But this one is very different from the ones you’re used to.”
Cody hesitated. On one hand, he probably could get all of his paperwork done before night, or what passed for night on this planet, and go out with no problem. But on the other hand, the thought of spending anymore time in that ocean, especially with his whole kit on because they had no clue what was swimming in those waters, was very unappealing.
He sighed, and told Obi-Wan apologetically, “I’m kind of comfortable without my armor on, and suiting up would be a whole affair.”
Obi-Wan gave him a confused look, “Why would you have to put on your armor?”
“Because we don’t know what’s in there,” Cody explained, narrowing his eyes at Obi-Wan, “Have none of you been wearing armor?”
Obi-Wan laughed again, and it was almost enough to make Cody’s incredulousness go away, “Absolutely not. It’s far too humid and I think if anything life threatening were in there, it would’ve made itself known when we were fighting a war right on top of it.”
That was…fair.
Cody leaned back in his chair, “But what about foreign bacteria? Microscopic life forms? Parasites or amoebas or viruses?.”
“Alright,” Obi-Wan said primly, standing and dusting himself off, “You are most certainly coming out with me tonight because that is just ridiculous. You’ve holed yourself up for so long that you’re more paranoid than Helix.”
Cody sputtered indignantly, “That is not true! These are perfectly reasonable worries, and I’m sure - ”
“Cody,” Obi-Wan cut him off with an amused smile, “I watched Boil and Waxer strip down to nothing and dive off of the nose of one of our fighters. If anything were going to get in our bodies and kill us, those two would be dead by now.”
“Those two did what ?”
Obi-Wan laughed as he circled around the desk and grabbed Cody’s arm, hauling him up, “Come on, your eyes probably need a break from the strain anyway. It’ll be fun! We can go get dinner in the city, maybe visit the tide pools so you don’t get swept away.” He was teasing, Cody realized. That fact shouldn’t have sent his stomach all funny but it did and he was pretty sure he hated whatever was going on with that.
“Obi-Wan,” Cody protested, gently extracting his arm from his general’s grip, “It’s only lunch time, and I still have work to get done.”
Obi-Wan sighed dramatically, putting his hands on his hips, “Must you always be so stubbornly competent? Can I not have my commander to myself for a night?”
“Your commander,” Cody reminded him with a similar tone, “Is doing all of the work you’re putting off so you don’t work yourself to death on the flight back to Triple Zero.”
“My commander,” Obi-Wan mocked him slightly, “needs to get out every now and then.”
Cody laughed sharply, shaking his head at Obi-Wan, “And now you sound like my brothers. Go have fun, I’m alright here.”
Obi-Wan didn’t budge.
“Seriously,” he assured him, “I’m fine.”
“I will be back in three hours,” Obi-Wan threatened, shaking his finger at him. Cody had to resist the urge to laugh with how he reminded him of the ARCs back in the early days of Cody’s training on Kamino, “We are going to go for a night swim and you will enjoy yourself.”
Cody just smiled at him, “Whatever you say General.”
“No,” Obi-Wan glared, “This is not a general and commander moment. This is an Obi-Wan and Cody moment. Be ready to have fun, or else.”
With that, he left the room in a huff, and Cody tried not to dwell on the way he said “Obi-Wan and Cody” when he could have said “friends.” He was pretty sure he’d imagined the way Obi-Wan had softened slightly when Cody smiled at him earlier too.
He needed to get over this before it became a real problem. Rex had texted the batch group chat the night Cody confessed his feelings about Obi-Wan to him, and now they were all on his case about it. If this is how Bly felt the entire war, he wasn’t sure how his brother had survived this long under their combined teasing and General Secura’s constant presence.
He sighed and pulled out his comm, sending a few of the remaining officers on board a notice that he was taking tonight off. He glared at the influx of messages from the Ghost chat, decidedly ignoring them until they needed to be used as evidence in a series of paperwork he’d have to file once someone got hurt. He flipped over to his batch chat, wondering if he should tell them and risk public humiliation, or just keep it between them.
In the end, he decided he didn’t have time to debate, and went about wrapping up everything he could for the night.
—
When Obi-Wan walked in three hours later on the dot, he rolled his eyes at Cody, who was now in full armor, bucket included. The helmet felt a little silly, but he convinced himself he was also doing it so that traitorous blush didn’t come back. Sometimes a bioweapon was simply his genetic make up working against him.
“No more Next Top Model?” Obi-Wan asked.
Before Cody registered he was teasing, he responded, “I thought you didn’t like it.”
Obi-Wan’s smile faded slightly, “But you said you did.”
Cody felt even more silly then. It was incredibly frustrating how stupid he got around Obi-Wan now. It was just a show, he shouldn’t have taken it so personally.
Cody decided to change tactics, stepping forward to be next to Obi-Wan and gestured out the door. Obi-Wan raised his eyebrow, before reaching up and yanking Cody’s helmet off.
There went that plan.
“That’s better,” Obi-Wan said with a nod, “Now you can actually eat, like we planned.”
Cody was pretty sure they hadn’t planned anything, but when he brought that up Obi-Wan just gave him a wink and another smile that had his stomach doing flips. He did leave his helmet behind after a moment of consideration, deciding that if he really needed it he could always grab one of the spares that were bound to be lying around where his men had apparently been stripping on public beaches.
Obi-Wan took him to a small restaurant on the outskirts of the capital, meaning they were able to get a table pretty quickly. Obi-Wan told him he’d learned over the years that the small local places were generally the best chance you’d get at authentic cuisine. As good as the bigger places were, they really only ever served what was trending in the cooking world. Cody didn’t really get that, or how food could trend, but he was content to let Obi-Wan explain anyway.
When it came time to order, Cody quickly scanned the menu and hesitated. He asked their waiter to give them another few minutes, and once they were alone he leaned in and said quietly, “I don’t think I can afford this.”
Obi-Wan tilted his head slightly, “What do you mean?”
“I - ” he looked around before lowering his voice further, “I don’t have any money. We don’t get paid.”
“I know that,” Obi-Wan said in an assuring tone. Cody didn’t quite understand why.
“Obi-Wan,” he sighed, “We can’t eat here.”
Understanding dawned on Obi-Wan’s face and Cody leaned back, getting ready to stand and make their excuses to the staff.
“I’m paying,” Obi-Wan declared.
Cody froze, “What?”
“I’m paying. For both of us.” Obi-Wan explained, settling back into his seat and picking his menu back up, “Get whatever you want.”
Cody glanced down at the menu, then back up at his general. Obi-Wan peered over the top of the menu and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Cody to say whatever he was going to say.
“I can’t ask you to - ”
“And you’re not,” Obi-Wan said with finality, “I have decided I’m paying because I want to. And I’m the general. I can make it an order if it makes you feel better.”
“No,” Cody said quickly, “No, that’s alright, just, um…thank you.” There was that stupid flush again. He fervently hoped the dim lights around the place hid it from Obi-Wan.
The waiter came back a few moments later and Obi-Wan made sure Cody ordered first, hemming and hawing when Cody picked the cheapest thing on the menu. Cody rolled his eyes, but chose something else that he’d found admittedly far more interesting. It was worth it for the little grin of victory on Obi-Wan’s face that remained throughout their meal.
They fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence for a bit, but the food came out quick so it was easily passed off as they busied themself with the meal. Cody wondered if he should say anything or let Obi-Wan take the lead. He wasn’t sure what the protocol for your superior officer taking you out to dinner was.
In the end, Obi-Wan decided for him.
“Cody?”
“Hm?”
“I have a question,” Obi-Wan poked at his food with an air of nonchalance Cody had learned not to trust.
“What can I help you with?”
“Do you research every holo-show before you watch it?” In retrospect, Cody should’ve expected the question, but as it was it took him off guard. He glanced up from his dinner, surprised to see the genuinely curious expression on Obi-Wan’s face.
He shrugged, “I don’t exactly have downtime to figure out what I like so I just check the top ratings for the year.”
Obi-Wan muffled his quiet laugh, before saying, “But you haven’t found a preference for anything yet?”
Cody smiled back at him, “It’s mostly just background noise while I work. And I really only do it when I’m alone and don’t have any appointments coming up. Anything with any sort of real plot or drama would be entirely ignored and therefore unentertaining.”
Obi-Wan sighed dramatically and shook his head, “Do you ever take a night off?” Cody gestured around them and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes playfully, “You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Then no,” Cody answered simply, “Unless Helix has me trapped in the med bay. And you are no better,” Cody pointed his fork threateningly at Obi-Wan, “So don’t even start.”
Obi-Wan held his hands up in fake surrender, “Did I say anything?”
Cody glared at him.
“I didn’t say anything!” Obi-Wan defended, “Besides, one of us took the opportunity to take the week off while the other stayed locked in his room.”
Cody huffed, “I don’t like the ocean. Take me to a nice forest and we can talk.”
“Noted,” Obi-Wan said wryly, a small twinkle in his eye.
“What have you been doing?” Cody questioned, turning his attention back to his food, “Aside from keeping the men out of trouble.”
“Mostly socializing with the locals,” Obi-Wan responded, “I’ve missed that part of the job.”
Cody gestured for him to explain further and Obi-Wan easily obliged, “A large part of our lives before the war were dealing with diplomats, yes, but Jedi often went to the people before going to the authorities. We try to get a lay of the land before we act in either a diplomatic or more aggressive manner, and talking to those who are being affected day to day was critical to understanding what was necessary.” Obi-Wan sighed and put his fork down, gently swirling his wine in his glass, “Anakin never much liked it, but I always enjoyed getting to know local cultures and customs.”
“That sounds fun,” Cody agreed, “Certainly better than reading through planetary reports before charging in.”
“Yes,” a slight smile reappeared on Obi-Wan’s face, “It certainly was. I for one am very excited to get back to the more peaceful side of things.”
Cody smiled, only a little bitter, “I’d like to see what that looks like someday.”
Obi-Wan looked at him, studying him closely for a moment, before saying, “You should come with me tomorrow. I can introduce you to some families I’ve met and we can explore the city a bit more.”
Cody nodded, “I would like that. But - ”
“No excuses,” Obi-Wan said firmly, but not unkindly, “You are not the only officer that can do paperwork, you know.”
Cody shook his head slightly, but relented, “It would be nice. The closest I’ve gotten to local culture has been helping evacuate.”
Obi-Wan laughed, “Yes, I suppose that would be a damper on things.”
Cody grinned, and the silence they fell back into was far more comfortable this time. It still didn’t stop Obi-Wan from speaking up again, this time far more hesitantly.
“I understand this may be a personal question,” he started as Cody ate, “But I was just wondering, do the vode…date?”
Cody's hopes rose briefly, before he stomped them out with a swift kick to the stomach.
“It depends,” Cody said casually, or at least, he hoped it was casual, “We don’t really have time, but I’ve heard a few Corries get around.”
“That makes sense,” Obi-Wan pushed his food around his plate, “And you?”
Cody choked on his dinner, quickly recovering under Obi-Wan’s partially amused, partially startled stare, “Me?”
“Yes, you,” a small smile curled across Obi-Wan’s face, “Any secret love affairs I should know about?”
Cody gave a small nervous laugh, “No, no. I am, uh, pretty much an open book. Not much time for anything…like that.”
Obi-Wan laughed, “Alright, fair enough.”
And then Cody said something he’d curse himself for later, “I mean, the only person I spend a decent amount of time with outside the vode is you.”
Obi-Wan’s eyes widened just slightly, though Cody missed it on account of staring at his food like he was praying for it to swallow him whole, “Yes,” he sounded slightly flustered, “I suppose that’s true.”
Thankfully, that conversation ended as their waiter came back to check on them.
Once they ate, Obi-Wan ordered them drinks, which Cody had not expected. Apparently it was a thing to drink after dinner, but Cody just let Obi-Wan order for him. They spent another half an hour talking over their respective cocktails, before Obi-Wan suggested they move along to the next part of their evening. He wasn’t allowed to see the bill, but he resolved to eventually pay Obi-Wan back in some way.
They made their way over to the tide pools after that. Obi-Wan eagerly waded in, the water coming up to his shins. The little waves did strange things as they swirled and crested in a mimicry of their much larger counterparts, and bioluminescent algae created beautiful patterns of light as his general moved around. Cody stayed on the rocks, looking around uncomfortably. He’d thought some of his brothers would be out, that it wouldn’t be just the two of them, but he was apparently out of luck there.
The first light tap on his shields came when he was looking back to where he could make out the faint outline of the Negotiator.
He startled, his head whipping back to Obi-Wan, who looked both amused and lost in thought.
“Is there a reason you aren’t joining me?” Obi-Wan asked confidently, bending over to dig around before making a triumphant noise and wading over to Cody.
Cody accepted the little shell he offered, the fifth of the night, and responded, “I’m in my full armor.”
“Did you wear that just so you had an excuse not to come in?” Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes as he looked down at Cody.
Cody smiled a little, the fake innocent one he’d perfected as a cadet but lost the need for over the years, “Why would you ever accuse me of such a thing?”
“Right,” Obi-Wan crossed his arms, “You have thirty seconds to lose the boots or I’m throwing you in.”
Cody laughed, “There is no way you could - ”
He was cut off as Obi-Wan made an abrupt hand motion and he felt himself lifted into the air. He bit back his yelp at the last second, before staring at Obi-Wan in betrayal.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Get in the tide pool.”
Cody gaped for approximately five more seconds, before deciding he did not want to get on Obi-Wan’s mischievous side, and quickly took off his boots. He stepped in the pool and was rewarded with a blinding smile and a gleeful, “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Cody grumbled, but sloshed around alongside his general, feeling considerably less graceful about it.
Obi-Wan led him over to the area he was at earlier, showing Cody how to spot shells from above the water, and that if you dug your toes into the sand you could feel for sand dollars. The first time Cody felt one of those, he cringed and the face he made must have been something else, because Obi-Wan laughed like Cody hadn’t heard him laugh in a while.
Between the warmth of alcohol, his general at his side, and the quiet nighttime sea air, Cody finally began to relax. They talked about nothing important for the first time since they’d met, and made it a competition to see who could pick up the prettiest shell. Cody managed to find one with an opalescent sheen that stole the show, but instead of pouting the way he was used to his brothers doing, Obi-Wan had clapped a warm hand on his back and explained the diffraction effect caused by the evenly grooved surface microstructure, which was why it looked like that.
Cody didn’t think he looked at the shell once as Obi-Wan spoke.
Eventually, Obi-Wan suggested they go out to the shore, and Cody was having a good enough night that he agreed without an argument. They made their way out, walking a good length down the beach so as to get away from the quite lively crowd of vode.
“Cody?” Obi-Wan asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over them.
“Hm?”
“What do you think you’ll do when all of this is done?”
When Cody looked at Obi-Wan, his general was gazing up at the stars. He looked…not lost, but like he was longing for something. Like he was searching amongst the night sky, but for what, Cody didn’t know.
“I dunno,” Cody responded, flicking his gaze back down at the earth beneath him, “I’ve never really thought about it.”
“Well think about it now,” Obi-Wan urged him, “What would you do? You can pick anything at all, what would it be?”
Cody studied the way the sand gave way underneath their feet, leaving prints behind them on the shore. He saw the way the waves quickly washed their marks away, but in turn left behind glittering fragments of shell and stone.
“I think,” he said after a moment, “I would just retire.”
He waited for Obi-Wan to laugh. It didn’t come.
“I just…” he sighed, “I suppose I’ve spent my whole life doing something, being something, trying to get to something. I’ve always been something to someone, be it a clone or a check or a brother.”
“Or a commander.”
“Or a commander,” Cody grinned at Obi-Wan, surprised to see the serious expression on his face when he looked up. Cody cleared his throat, setting his eyes forward, “I think, if I could do anything at all, it would be to live somewhere quiet and do something entirely without value to the galaxy.”
Obi-Wan made a soft noise, “That sounds idyllic.”
Cody huffed in a poor imitation of a laugh, “I don’t think it’ll ever happen. If we do make it through this war, my status within the GAR means I’ll be taking on some leadership role, either for the vode or someone else. I’m good at what I do, because I have to be. That means I’m uniquely suited to help a lot of people.”
“And you are,” Obi-Wan said, stopping their walk and turning to face the waves ahead of them, “But I don’t think it’s wrong to not want that burden.”
Cody shrugged, “Maybe. I think it’s less about right and wrong and more about the fact that I’m not sure I could refuse the request.”
Obi-Wan didn’t respond to that, but Cody was sure he understood. They were both driven by duty and devotion. He was sure if their roles were switched, the other man would have given himself to the cause without a doubt. He was sure that even now, when Obi-Wan was both a Jedi and a citizen of the Republic, that Obi-Wan would never stop giving himself to the cause. It was, after all, what earned Cody’s respect for him in the first place.
Cody took the silence between them to study Obi-Wan’s face. It was shadowed and turned to the side, but he couldn’t help but think of how strong his Jedi looked.
Obi-Wan had been exhausted lately. They both had, but Cody worried that Obi-Wan was taking on too much. He looked more at peace here, and with that came strength. He knew Jedi maintained their incredible mental facilities through intense training of the mind, and he couldn’t imagine how draining the war was to a man who was only as good as his wits
This pause had been good for Obi-Wan, Cody realized abruptly. It had given him a space to meditate and breathe in a way he hadn’t been able to in…gods know how long.
“What would you do?” Cody asked quietly, gently.
“I’m a Jedi,” came the simple response, “I would go back to being a Jedi.”
“Yeah, but…” Cody paused. Maybe it was unfair of him to ask this.
“If I weren’t?” Obi-Wan read his mind anyway. The faraway look on his face came back as he answered, “I have no clue. I’ve lived my life by the Order. I think without it, I would be lost.”
Cody nodded. He was pretty sure that without his brothers, without his role as one of the people standing between them and certain doom, he’d be lost too.
Obi-Wan turned back to him, snapping out of his reverie, “I apologize. I didn’t mean to bring us down like that. Shall we?” He gestured toward the dark water.
Cody took the change of subject for what it was and sighed, “Are you going to throw me in if I don’t?”
The sparkle from dinner returned to Obi-Wan’s eyes, “Possibly. Are you going to make me throw you in?”
Cody shook his head tiredly, going to shed the rest of his armor, “No, please,” he said sarcastically, “Don’t throw me in with your incredible Jedi mind powers.”
Obi-Wan laughed, “You know, if you hadn’t worn your armor this process would have been much easier.”
Cody gave him a deadpan look, “The whole point of the armor was to avoid the process.”
Obi-Wan nudged his shoulder, before quickly taking off his shirt. Cody immediately looked down and away, retroactively hoping he played that off better than he thought. It didn’t help that Obi-Wan stripped down to his underclothes, and loudly encouraged Cody to do the same.
Cody followed his lead, though much more hesitantly, and watched Obi-Wan march happily and without fear into the open water.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Cody called as Obi-Wan walked further and further away.
His general turned back to grin at him, though it was difficult to see in the dark, “It’s perfectly fine!”
Cody sighed, a little tired and a little nervous, and stepped in just a little, letting the water wash over his bare skin. He shivered as the cold hit him, the perpetual cover of night doing nothing to help warm the water.
Obi-Wan eventually got tired of waiting for him to keep taking baby steps forward and turned back, sloshing over to where Cody was standing and looking out anxiously.
“Come on,” Obi-Wan grabbed Cody’s hand, "We won't go too far.”
Cody made a face behind his back, but he reasoned that he’d faced down far more terrible monsters than a beach. Plus, he didn’t really want to stop holding Obi-Wan’s hand.
They made it up to just below waist height water when something swam up against Cody’s leg. He sucked in a quick breath, moving immediately to shove Obi-Wan behind him and scanning the dark water.
It could be anything under there. He’d read reports of certain eels in the area that were bound to have been stirred up by the fighting, and even some of the smallest fish secreted natural poisons or paralyzing agents. Not to mention any sort of crustacean or urchin they may accidentally aggravate. And with how dark it was, they could be cornered into a rip current and swept out to sea, silently drowning before anyone would even notice they were gone.
“Cody,” Obi-Wan was laughing, tugging at his shoulder and trying to pull his attention away, “Cody it’s fine. They’re forager fish, they won’t hurt us.”
Cody relaxed slightly, but jumped again when one of the fish slipped by his leg, “I don’t like them.”
“I can tell,” Obi-Wan said easily, “But they won’t hurt us.”
“How do you know ?”
He couldn’t see it very well, but he could almost feel Obi-Wan’s eyeroll, “Because I’m a Jedi. I have an ‘intrinsic connection to nature,’ remember?”
Cody huffed, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed, “Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
Obi-Wan shrugged, “I suppose I thought you’d trust me.”
Cody furrowed his brow, “That’s not fair.”
“Maybe not,” Obi-Wan teased, “But I did bring you out here for a reason.”
“And what was that?” Cody asked sarcastically, “To give me a heart attack and have a convenient place to leave the body?”
“So morbid,” Obi-Wan clucked his tongue, “If I gave you a heart attack, who would do all my paperwork for me?”
Cody grumbled, petulantly kicking up the area around them to scare off any other fish that may try to trick him again.
“Come on,” Obi-Wan nudged him gently, “I think you’ll like this.”
Cody crossed his arms over his chest, “I doubt that.”
He felt a slight tap of warmth and mirth against his shields, before Obi-Wan retreated his presence. He waited patiently in silence as Obi-Wan stood still, his hands dipped into the water and his eyes closed. It was a look of quiet concentration that generally meant Obi-Wan was focusing on the Force, a process that had been explained to him many times and gone over his head many times.
“What are you doing?” Cody whispered theatrically.
“Surprising you,” Obi-Wan murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
“You’re not doing a very good jo- oh …”
Cody stood shocked as the water lit up around them, an impossible display of blue-green lights he’d only seen reflected in certain night skies, and even then only ever in icy tundras. He dipped his hands into the water, watching with delight and curiosity as the pattern swirled and followed the patterns of ripples he was making all around them. He’d never seen anything so beautiful.
He looked up at Obi-Wan and immediately took back that statement.
He was softly lit by the water, the glassy reflection pulling back and forth across his skin as he concentrated. He had a small smile on his face and he looked utterly at peace here, and Cody’s heart squeezed when he realized he’d never seen the other man so happy. Here, it was like Obi-Wan was more than a man but less than a general. His eyes practically glowed when he looked back at Cody, and Cody laughed in delight when the water around them began to swirl and form eddies, the little fish from earlier darting in between them as they played.
“It’s beautiful,” Cody breathed as he looked into the water below them, studying the way it moved and dipped according to Obi-Wan’s will.
“It certainly is,” Obi-Wan agreed quietly.
Cody looked up, breath catching slightly as he realized Obi-Wan hadn’t been looking at the water when he said that.
“Cody,” Obi-Wan started, looking…almost nervous as he spoke, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Okay,” Cody moved a little closer to him, giving Obi-Wan a quick once over, “Is everything alright? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Obi-Wan laughed, but it still sounded off. Tense. “I must confess, I wanted to - ”
“Cody!”
Obi-Wan froze as they heard a voice coming from down the beach.
Cody glanced back, sighing as he saw two of his men standing on the shore and waving back at them. From this distance Cody couldn’t quite tell who it was.
“I’ll take care of this,” Cody said apologetically, “And then you can tell me whatever it was?”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan snapped out of his former haze suddenly, his gaze firmly fixed on Cody’s face, “Yes, that’s…we’ll continue this later.”
Cody frowned and shuffled within arm’s reach of Obi-Wan, gently placing a hand on his arm, “It won’t take more than a few moments.”
Obi-Wan looked at him, and suddenly that lost look he’d been wearing earlier was back. Cody swallowed down the words of encouragement he was about to say, unsure if anything would help. Obi-Wan looked at Cody and he just looked…weary.
“Cody!” The call came again, quickly followed by, “Is that you?”
“If they aren’t using ‘commander,’ I think we ought to go,” Obi-Wan said lightly, but Cody saw the coverup for what it was.
“Right,” Cody said, “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“I’ll come along,” Obi-Wan grinned, “I am their general, after all.”
Cody rolled his eyes, allowing the tension in the air to ease up, but made his way back with his general in tow.
“Cody!” It was Wooley, who seemed slightly out of breath, accompanied by Trapper, “Waxer wanted me to come get you.”
Cody crossed his arms over his chest, though the image was slightly lessened by the fact that he was wearing nothing but his boxers, “What did you do?”
“Nothing!” Trapper quickly assured him, “But some of the men wanted to break out the - uh,” Trapper seemed to realize that he was talking to his general as well as his brother in that moment and grabbed Cody’s arm to pull him aside, “Does he know about the…you know?”
“Obi-Wan,” Cody called gruffly, turning back without answering Trapper’s question, “The men want to break out the completely legal drinks they most definitely found in the city.”
“Well,” Obi-Wan pretended to think about it, stroking his beard like he would while going over a battle map but with a far different spark in his eye, “So long as it’s completely legal and obtained through entirely appropriate avenues of commerce, I don’t see why not.”
Cody watched with amusement as Wooley immediately turned and started speaking lowly into his comm, while Trapper looked confusedly between the two of them.
“What are you two doing all the way out here?” Trapper asked. Wooley wasted no time in giving him a shoulder punch and whispering something into his ear.
“What was that Wooley?” Cody asked, putting a little authority into his voice.
“Nothing! Nothing at all sir,” Wooley straightened up, “I was just telling Trapper that you don’t normally get out and making you supervise us on your night off would be very rude so we should go.”
Cody raised an eyebrow at both men. They gave him twin smiles of picturesque innocence, before turning around and running off before he could get another word in. He sighed and shook his head, turning back to Obi-Wan who was watching them go with his own look of judgment.
“Anyway,” Cody huffed, “You were saying?”
Obi-Wan looked at him like he was surprised that Cody remembered, never mind that they’d only been interrupted for a minute or two, “Oh, it doesn’t matter.”
Cody furrowed his brow, “Are you sure? They probably won’t bother us again so now’s the time.”
Obi-Wan gave him a look that Cody couldn’t really decipher, “It’s our night off. Let’s not waste it on conversations with such gravitas.”
Cody was still curious, but he wasn’t going to make Obi-Wan talk about anything, “Alright.”
“Come on,” Obi-Wan turned back to the water, wading in and lighting up his path as he did so, “I think you’ll enjoy this bit.”
Cody smiled and shook his head, but followed Obi-Wan in. They walked out a little further than they had been previously until Obi-Wan paused. He turned back to Cody and said, “Give me just a moment.”
Cody nodded and went back to watching the waves form little crests as they lapped at his skin. They weren’t far out enough that the big waves were crashing down on them, but every now and then they were rocked. He was fairly sure Obi-Wan was doing something to keep the water calm, because there was no way they were far enough out for it to be this serene.
He’d never really been nervous around water, but they all heard the stories of cadets who fell from Tipoca City’s safety far above the waves. Rex had actually known one of the CTs who’d done it. Apparently the kid had just vanished and sent the Kaminoans into an uproar.
They had no clue what happened to him until they checked security tapes, watched the kid doing sprints during one of the many storms they used to get. He’d pissed off one of the Cuy’val Dar, hence the reason for training, but been out there unsupervised. When he fell, it was quiet. Just a little slip off the side. They never managed to recover his body.
It was stories like that which made Cody uneasy around wide oceanic bodies. They’d all been taught about what lurked below their training facilities, and he’d caught more than one glimpse of large eyes in the murky water, reflecting the light from their shining helmets while the vode patrolled. He’d decided long ago he would rather stay safe and away then to tempt fate by going somewhere he did not belong.
That also meant that when Obi-Wan opened his eyes after a few long moments of concentration, and asked Cody how he felt about marine life, Cody immediately hit the panic button.
“It depends,” Cody responded, narrowing his eyes at Obi-Wan, “Why?”
“I’ve brought a friend to meet us,” Obi-Wan’s smile was entirely too encouraging for how Cody felt about that, “She’s perfectly friendly and was rather curious about us, so I invited her over.”
Cody gave Obi-Wan an incredulous look, “You can talk to animals?”
Obi-Wan laughed, “Not quite. It’s more of a feeling, like how I do with you.”
“Right,” Cody said, not feeling too great about being compared to an animal, “Is she small?”
Obi-Wan hummed consideringly, “Sort of? She’s probably about the size of a baby aiwha.”
“Sure,” Cody said, “Bring her over.”
Obi-Wan grinned, “Excellent! She’s right behind you.”
“What?” Cody squawked, immediately surging forward and whipping around to see what it was. Obi-Wan cackled as Cody crashed into him, but Cody was stuck staring at the thing in the water.
It was, in all honesty, fairly similar looking to an aiwha. It had large flaps on either side of what he assumed to be its body, but he couldn’t see any eyes on its head. It was shaped a bit like a diamond, with a long spiny tail at the back. The coloring was nice, he supposed, a deep blue with little white spots all over.
“She’s a stingray,” Obi-Wan explained as Cody righted himself, “And she’s very friendly.”
“I don’t like it,” Cody said, cautiously leaning over to get a better look, “Where are the eyes?”
“On the sides of her head,” Obi-Wan moved forward with no fear, stretching his hand out for the stingray to examine. He pet it like it was a tooka, before moving back and lifting its tail out of the water, “Her tail is what you have to watch out for, but I’m keeping her calm.”
Cody narrowed his eyes, not moving an inch, “What does it do?”
Obi-Wan shrugged, letting the tail fall back into the water, “If she’s threatened she can use it to impale or slice the aggressor. Some of them have a sort of venom on their tail as well.”
“And we’re just…going to swim with that?” Cody asked, feeling like Obi-Wan was not taking this seriously at all.
Obi-Wan glanced over and finally realized his nervousness may actually be affecting him and came back, “Do you trust me?”
Cody nodded.
Obi-Wan took his hand and led him over to the creature, who had been waiting patiently while Cody splashed around. He tugged Cody’s hand so that it was hovering over the stingray, before looking back at Cody, “Then trust her, too. I wouldn’t let her hurt you.”
Cody looked at Obi-Wan, still very concerned, but conceded that Obi-Wan hadn’t led him astray this far. He still hesitated as his hand remained just above the ray’s back, until Obi-Wan pushed lightly down.
Her skin was smooth and soft, not at all how Cody imagined, and she seemed to push up and nuzzle slightly into his palm.
Despite himself, he laughed breathlessly, amazed at how she felt and how patient the creature was being. He ran his hand lightly over her fins, feeling her give a little side to side shake as he did so. He smiled widely, looking back at Obi-Wan over his shoulder.
Obi-Wan was looking down at her too, her silhouette outlined beautifully against the ocean’s light, but when they made eye contact there was something decidedly soft in his expression. Cody’s smile slowly slid off his face as he realized how close they were, and he was split between yelling at himself about protocol and fraternization and leaning in just a little closer, just to test the waters.
There was a moment, an incredibly brief moment, where he could’ve sworn Obi-Wan’s eyes flicked down to his lips.
“We should, um-” Obi-Wan’s voice had deepened slightly, though grown much gentler as he spoke, “did you know that stingrays are some of the only animals to have evolved on nearly every planet with a large body of water present?”
Cody smiled, “No I didn’t.”
“Oh,” Obi-Wan looked down again, “Well they are. The specifics of genus and species vary, of course, but the base shape and skeletal structure remain.”
Cody looked down as well, following his general’s gaze. Obi-Wan’s hand was still covering his.
“In fact,” Cody didn’t think he’d ever heard Obi-Wan ramble before. He kind of liked it, “We’ve found remarkable similarities between species that suggests early space travelers introduced alien lifeforms to certain biospheres - Cody, about what I was going to tell you earlier,”
Cody cut him off, gently sliding his hand off of the stingray, “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
“But I -”
“Obi-Wan,” Cody admonished gently, “It’s okay to take your time. I’ll still be here to listen.”
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to respond before hesitating and sighing, “Thank you. I am lucky to have someone like you at my side.”
Cody flushed again and turned his attention back to the stingray, “Of course. Does she have a name?”
Obi-Wan moved away from him, and Cody found himself missing his warmth, “Not one you or I would understand. But she’s remarkable all the same.”
Cody shrugged, “She’s alright.”
Obi-Wan gave him an affronted look as Cody laughed, and a second later Cody was doused with water. He looked down at the ray, who had splashed him, before making accusing eye contact with Obi-Wan.
“You made her do that.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“I can’t believe -”
“Maybe you shouldn’t insult her as such,” Obi-Wan said defensively, crossing his arms as the stingray bubbled happily between them, “And like I said, I can’t talk to her and make her do anything.”
Cody glared at his general, before switching his gaze to glare at the stingray, “You,” he poked her accusingly, “Are an accomplice and therefore spared. You,” he looked up at Obi-Wan, “need to watch your back.”
Obi-Wan laughed and held his hands up in surrender, “Threatening a general? I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Yes, well unfortunately for you this is a, how did you put it? Obi-Wan and Cody night, not a general and commander one,” Cody said playfully, almost breaking at the dramatic amount of shock on Obi-Wan’s face at his ‘betrayal,’ “And here I thought you actually wanted to show me a good time.”
Cody was immediately splashed again, leaving him sputtering and soaked with only a stingray blocking him from bodily tackling Obi-Wan into the water. Well, that and the fact that Obi-Wan was still his general.
Obi-Wan laughed uproariously at Cody’s expression, while Cody crouched as low as he could in the waist high water and found where the stingray’s eyes were, telling her seriously, “If you help me get back at him I’ll help you catch a fish.”
This time when her fin came up, his face was just a bit too close and she ended up accidentally slapping him. Obi-Wan actually fell into the water he was laughing so hard, while Cody just gave her a deadpan look, “That was the opposite of what I asked.”
—
When they got back to the Negotiator, Obi-Wan sent Cody on his way with one of the shells they’d dug up in the tide pools. Cody tucked it away in one of his desk drawers so he wouldn’t lose it and dumped his now sandy armor in the fresher, resolving to get up early and clean it.
It had been a good night, and he thought things with Obi-Wan went well. It seemed he hadn’t caught on to Cody’s feelings, and whatever he had to say Cody didn’t mind waiting for. He was glad they’d had this night to relax, and kept going back to the peaceful expression on Obi-Wan’s face when they were in the water.
He sighed as he changed into sleep clothes and flopped onto his bunk, pulling up his comm to get the latest on the party that had still been going once he and Obi-Wan had gotten back. Surprisingly, his batch chat was at the top of his recent messages. He frowned and clicked on it, curious as to what they were all talking about at this hour.
When he opened it, however, he groaned in despair.
There were two holos, both blurry and a little grainy, but they were of him and Obi-Wan. The first was when they were at the restaurant earlier this evening, taken by someone just a little too far away, but they were talking about something as they ate. Cody looked absolutely whipped as he watched Obi-Wan talk, one hand on his cheek and the other on his drink. The second was while they had been swimming, and he realized it was when he’d first touched the stingray. Obi-Wan was behind him, pressing their hands down. He zoomed in, surprised at just how close Obi-Wan had been to him. It looked…almost suggestive, seeing as how you couldn’t see the stingray under the water.
Bark: courtesy of my 212th sources:
Bark sent two images
Lakes: HOLY SHIT
Lovestruck: finally
Lovestruck: someone who understands me
Lovestruck: welcome to the club Kote
Vod’ika’ika: oh wow
Vod’ika’ika: i did not need to see that second pic
Bite: that’s crazy
Vod’ika’ika: yeah since when is that a thing
Vod’ika’ika: i thought you were still in denial
Lakes: kote
Lakes: we have questions
Lakes: get in here
Bark: @Dumbstruck
Vod’ika’ika: @Dumbstruck
Bite: @Dumbstruck
Lovestruck: @Dumbstruck
Lakes: @Dumbstruck
Bark: they might be still fucking
Bite: he is a jedi
Vod’ika’ika: ???
Bite: they can go for a while
Lovestruck: and how would YOU know that fox????
Bite: …
Bark: oh my god
Bark: please tell me it wasn’t vos
Bite: cody come pick me up im scared
Vod’ika’ika: ok so we’ve lost cody, bly, and fox
Vod’ika’ika: we need to close ranks
Bark: i am NOT fucking the guy i call buir we’re good there
Lakes: windu is cool but i’m too scared of him so i am also safe
Vod’ika’ika: and skywalker is skywalker so all good here
Dumbstruck: we were not fucking
Lakes: CODY
Lakes: EXPLAIN YOURSELF
Dumbstruck: we’re on Thorag
Vod’ika’ika: still?
Dumbstruck: yeah
Dumbstruck: anyway
Dumbstruck: i’ve been doing paperwork because i don’t get along well with the ocean and he thought i needed to take a night off
Bark: …so you aren’t dating?
Dumbstruck: no he was just being nice
Bite: hey kote
Dumbstruck: yeah
Bite: you’re the stupidest fucking person i’ve ever met
Vod’ika’ika: cody i’m pretty sure that was a date
Lovestruck: nah
Lovestruck: aayla will do the same thing sometimes
Lovestruck: i think jedi are just like that
Lakes: anyone else want to take that one?
Bark: they’ll figure it out
Dumbstruck: delete those photos
Bark: no <3