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Cody bit his tongue as he watched Rex pace up and down the small space, just as he’d been doing for the past forty-five minutes. He was shaking hard but it was impossible for Cody to tell if it was from the cold, the blizzard outside still going strong after several hours, or sheer anger and irritation at the situation they found themselves in.
It was supposed to be just a simple training exercise on Kijimi to get used to the new upgrades with their cold-weather gear - a cross-country trek from one point to another. But as it was a joint venture between the 212th and 501st, something had to go wrong. Cody should have expected it, really, given his past experiences, and should have created a plan that included more than just the standard A, B and C.
He’d had faith in his men and their abilities; however. Silly Cody. He certainly felt more than a little stupid for his optimism now. None of them had seen the snow-storm heading in until it was too late. They hadn’t been prepared for the way it would cut off their comms and GPSs and leave the two of them stranded away from the main body of their troops, out in the wilderness to fend for themselves.
They wouldn’t have been in this situation at all if not for Rex’s ARC’s, so Cody supposed he couldn’t shoulder all the blame for this single handedly. They’d insisted on navigating a shortcut away from the path Cody had scouted out in advance. Stupidly, he’d had faith in their abilities and allowed it - and gotten the whole company lost as a result, just in time for the blizzard. Cody and Rex had taken it upon themselves to rectify their mistake and scout out the fastest way back to camp, only to get lost themselves.
It seemed like a gift from the force when they’d come across the half-collapsed shack, standing there like a dark beacon in the snow. It was likely a remnant of when Kijimi had warmer summers, abandoned for decades, but Cody would take it. It might have been made entirely from wood, the beams rotting and groaning with the force of the wind and threatening to topple down on them, but it was far better than being completely exposed to the elements.
With holes in the walls and nowhere to construct a fire, it did little to stave off the cold but it blocked out most of the wind and snow, at least - enough for them to take off their helmets. Still, with how hard he was shaking, Cody debated ordering Rex to put his back on. His pacing might have been making things worse rather than warming him up.
No doubt he was catching the worst of the draft while Cody stayed holed up in the most sheltered corner with some half-frozen blankets and his emergency, foil shock blanket pulled up to his shoulders. Sat on one of them (though that hardly made a difference), Cody had taken off his armour. Whilst in the short term it had made him feel even more freezing, it allowed the foil blanket to do its job and reflect his body heat back at him far more effectively.
“Rex.” Cody called eventually. He had to put a stop to this. “You’re gonna wear yourself out if you keep pacing a hole in the floor. You’ll be exhausted by the time the storm dies down and we still have to navigate our asses back to camp, you know. We can’t rely on comms being restored and someone coming to extract us before then.”
Rex gave an irritated grunt. He continued pacing.
“I’ll be fine.”
Cody was reluctant to keep poking when it was clear Rex was already in a foul mood, but he knew he needed to - if only to make sure the other stayed safe.
“Come here.” He firmed his voice a little and lifted the foil blanket to make his point clear. “Your teeth are chattering.”
In response, Rex bared those teeth at him. Only, with how much he shook, it lost much of its intended ferocity. The pacing continued, Rex’s boots stomping against the frozen wood with more gusto. He ignored Cody’s command in favour of hissing through his teeth,
“I can’t believe those fucking ARCs - getting us into this mess! They assured me they’d be on their best fucking behaviour. Who the fuck taught them to have this much fucking audasity?”
Cody ignored the uncharacteristically colourful language and resisted the urge to say ‘ you did. ’
It had been mostly Five’s and Jesse’s faults, really. But they’d only been trying to help in their own, unhelpful, way. Rex’s anger was perhaps a little harsh, but Cody knew he’d calm down by the time it came to chewing their ears off about it.
“Rex. Come lay with me.” Cody insisted. “You’re in no position to whip anyone’s ass right now - you can do it when we link up with them in the morning.”
Cody couldn’t help the spike of worry in his chest when he thought about how the rest of the group must have been doing, but he trusted them to take care of themselves in his and Rex’s absence.
Rex glared at him for a half second before turning his gaze to the wall. It would have been silent if not for the wind howling through the cracks in the shack’s walls. Cody knew the other’s stubbornness was in full force just then and he half-expected Rex to march right out of the shack and forge on through the blizzard out of sheer spite. Getting him to stop and rest in the first place had taken Cody’s full arsenal of negotiation tactics. Thank fuck he’d been paying attention whilst on diplomacy missions with General Kenobi.
For a moment, Rex looked as if he wanted to bite his head off, but at length only sighed heavily through his nose and stomped over to Cody’s little corner.
He stripped off his boots, kicking them away a little more dramatically than he needed to. Various armour plates came off next, clattering loudly to the ground with their designs half-obscured by ice where they’d begun to freeze over.
Having less protection against the wind, Rex began to shake even harder. Like Cody, his blacks were thermoregulated to avoid hypothermia, but that didn’t mean they kept you comfortable. That was low down on the Kaminoan’s list of priorities, he knew.
Out of his armour, it seemed as if the fight and anger drained out of Rex. He seemed miserable, even by clone standards, just standing there staring down at Cody’s covered legs and looking as if he would have rather been anywhere else.
Taking pity on him, Cody shifted his emergency blanket to the side.
“Get yours, too.” He couldn't hear the younger man’s heavy sigh, but his eyes tracked the way Rex’s shoulders rose and fell with it.
Getting Rex settled took more prompting and guidance than Cody had bargained for, but it made sense considering how keyed-up the younger man had made himself. With a little patience, he had Rex sitting at his side on the frozen floor. The blanket Cody had put down provided little protection against the chill but it was better than sitting on bare wood.
Cody moved from where he’d been leaning against the back wall to laying on his side, meaning for Rex to come and fit himself against the other man’s chest. But, still unfairly angry, Rex either missed the hint or spitefully ignored it. He lay on his back, barely under the blanket (certainly not feeling it’s benefits) and pointedly not touching Cody, his kama stuffed under his head as a shitty, make-shift pillow. His teeth were still chattering.
The other man knew he couldn’t just leave Rex like that - his own stubborn pride be damned.
He reached out, tugging and shoving at Rex until he was forcibly spooned. Predictably, Rex put up a little bit of a fight, all awkward elbows and fidgeting, but made no move to actually untangle himself from Cody’s hold. Cody knew it was spite rather than anything else.
“Hush.” He tried not to smile. He knew he shouldn’t have found Rex’s demeanour amusing, but there he was. “Let me spoon you.”
“Eat my ass.” Despite the comment, Rex settled, and so Cody let the insult wash over him.
There was a humph sound as Rex relaxed and Cody tugged both emergency blankets up around them once again, almost to their noses. They did their job quickly, reflecting Rex and Cody’s bodyheat back at them, and it wasn’t long before the blonde’s teeth finally stopped chattering.
With Rex tucked up against him, it really was quite comfortable. Still, Cody didn’t think he’d be able to sleep - even if they both could have done with an hour or so. But hey, at least they were resting and relatively warm. That was the best Cody could have aimed for just then. He tucked his face into the back of Rex’s neck and allowed himself to be comforted by the other’s presence. He was only human, after all.
Rex smelt surprisingly good, he realised. Cody would have said it smelt like home, but that seemed extreme - especially given the fact he had no claim on the other man. No matter how much he’d thought about it.
Cody slung his arm around the dip in the other’s waist and squeezed a little tighter which Rex didn’t seem to mind. He relaxed all his major muscle groups one at a time, just as he’d been taught, and allowed himself to slip into a light doze. Deep sleep was likely near-impossible and a bad idea, but Cody doubted there would be anything out in the blizzard looking to do them harm. He could afford to let his guard down just a little, he reasoned.
It was just as he flirted with the edges of sleep that Rex’s squirming started up again.
It was just a shift at first before the blonde settled. Cody relaxed once again and readjusted his arm. The wind whistling through the holes in the shack was comforting in its own strange way, when he was tucked up against a warm body.
Just as he was being lulled back into that meditative state again, Rex shifted once more, trying to get out from under Cody’s arm. He resisted the urge to squeeze tighter and keep the other there. He knew Rex would only squirm even more if he did so, and probably take his eye out.
Despite not resisting as Rex successfully rolled back onto his back, Cody still earned an elbow to the gut for his troubles.
The older man opened his eyes and tried not to sigh as he took in Rex staring at the shack’s ceiling. Closeness and comfort aside, this was a decidedly poor position to share body heat in, Rex’s exposed chest being a wide area to lose heat from. The blonde likely knew that but didn’t seem to care.
“Rex. ” Cody warned. He’d been expecting the other to snap back with a comment, perhaps bare his teeth, but instead Rex only gave a heavy sigh.
“Sorry, I’m just…” He trailed off. Cody took pity on him. He should have known that Rex wouldn’t go down so easily when he was angry and restless.
“Keyed up?”
With a defeated sound, Rex nodded and twisted his neck to look Cody in the eye. There was little more than an inch between their noses, unable to stray too far from each other if they still wanted use of the blankets.
“Yeah. Cold as balls.” Cody snorted and Rex pouted, already seeming a little calmer from the admission.
This time, he didn’t make things difficult as Cody rolled them both so they were chest to chest and nose to nose. He debated rolling himself too so that Rex could spoon up behind him and keep his front sheltered, but didn’t imagine that would solve the restlessness issue. There were a few ways Cody could go about addressing that, but only one which involved staying together and keeping warm.
“Want me to help out?”
Cody kept his voice as neutral as he could. When he made offers like this, no matter how indirect and carefully worded, he was always keenly aware of his rank and how intimidated it could make people feel. Still, he would have liked to think that Rex knew him well enough to tell him to fuck off if he wanted. He had in the past when Cody had offered and he’d not been up for it, just as Cody had done to him, but it still never hurt to be cautious. He knew that even if he and Rex had been official, been riduurs, he still couldn’t have taken the other’s enthusiasm for granted.
And so, he let the question hang in the air, not following it up by rambling and overexplaining. Instead, he gave Rex time to think about it, remaining close enough to share body heat without crowding him.
Rex stilled and Cody played his thumb over the other’s hip idly, blinking slowly as he waited for a reply.
“Yeah, alright.” Rex finally breathed. “Come give me a hand.”
Cody smirked and tugged him closer.