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Boil rolls onto his side and eyes the bunk next to his. It’s still empty. Waxer should have been back two hours ago. Boil is not worried, more… peeved. They’re on the Negotiator on their way back to Coruscant. There isn’t much that can happen to Waxer on this ship, unless he tripped and fell into the trash chute. While that’s not entirely impossible, Boil thinks of Waxer as marginally more capable than that.
Lights out in their quarters was some time ago so Boil takes care not to wake any of their bunkmates when he wriggles out of bed and sets out to find Waxer.
He tries the mess hall first. Waxer likes to celebrate by stuffing his face with food - even if it’s crappy, reheated canteen food. When Boil comes up empty, he checks out the rec room, then the hangar and the monitoring stations. Waxer could have offered to take somebody’s shift. He even tries the med bay, even though he is absolutely certain that Waxer was fine when they boarded.
No luck though. Boil stands in the hallway, tapping his foot. Waxer was definitely on board when they took off so he has to be around here somewhere. It shouldn’t be possible to lose an entire clone in the confines of a spaceship.
On the other hand, Boil hasn’t exactly looked everywhere yet. The officers’ quarters are two levels up. Waxer doesn’t have a room up there.
But Cody does.
Boil groans and heads for the turbolift. This thing with Cody is very new. They’re still trying to get their bearings. It was easy when it was just them - Waxer and Boil, like ‘bucket and boots’. But now there’s a kriffing marshal commander in the mix and sometimes that makes Boil’s head spin. It’s not that he doesn’t like Cody - Force knows he loves Cody - but he’s their commanding officer. He’s everybody’s commanding officer. At least, everybody on this side of the galaxy. And now Boil knows what the man sounds like when he comes. Some days, that’s a little too much to think about.
He steps off the lift and scans the corridor for any activity. It’s quiet up here - much quieter than downstairs where the bulk of the 212th is housed. Boil feels weird walking up to Cody’s door - like he’s an intruder and somebody is going to send him back downstairs any second. He has to remind himself that it’s perfectly all right for him to be here. None of them are forbidden from walking these hallways, it’s just… hardly ever necessary. If there’s trouble, Cody and the general are usually already knee deep in the middle of it, and they take more work with them to their quarters than is healthy anyway, so there is never any need to disturb them.
Except when clone troopers are looking for their dumb partners, who disappear on them without a word.
Once Boil reaches Cody’s quarters he leans in close, trying to make out voices. He doesn’t know what will happen if he knocks on Cody’s door and Waxer isn’t there. He’ll look like a moron, that’s what - having to go to his CO to try and find his best friend.
There are no sounds betraying the presence of two people behind that door and Boil is getting genuinely worried. He knocks politely and quickly identifies himself. Cody answers swiftly but in a low voice, inviting him in. Boil takes a deep breath as he steps through the door and realizes with a start that he’s never been alone with Cody.
He’s unsure of what to do so he goes for what he knows and salutes.
Cody chuckles. “Calm down, Boil. You don’t have to do that here.”
Now Boil feels stupid on top of everything. He should have just waited for Waxer downstairs. He would have turned up eventually.
“Something wrong?” Cody puts down the datapad he’s been working on and bestows his full attention upon Boil, which is a lot, especially with that single lamp illuminating Cody’s face. Even though he is only wearing his blacks, the lighting makes him look imposing. Or it could be because Cody is giving Boil a terribly scrutinizing look from behind that foldaway desk. There is nowhere to go, unless Boil wants to embarrass himself even further by retreating into the corridor.
Boil folds his hands behind his back and decides to muddle through. “I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m, uh–... I’m looking for Waxer.”
Cody arches one eyebrow. “And you thought he might be here?”
Boil’s heart pounds in his ears. Oh Force. He barged into Cody’s private quarters in the middle of the night cycle, interrupted his work, and all of it on the stupid notion that Waxer might be– where? Hiding under Cody’s bunk?
“I–... I don’t know,” Boil stammers, “I thought maybe he came up here to, you know… seeing as how we’re sort of–...” He trails off. There is no diplomatic way to end this sentence so Boil doesn’t.
Cody continues to stare at him before breaking into a grin. “Relax. He’s here.” He picks up the datapad and folds up the table, revealing a sleeping figure in his lap. It’s Waxer - peacefully snoring away on Cody’s bunk, with his head resting on Cody’s thighs.
Boil lets out a sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t wrong.
“He fell asleep helping me with datawork,” Cody explains. “I didn’t have the heart to wake him.”
Despite himself, Boil steps closer and leans in to check on Waxer. “He did datawork?”
Cody inclines his head and scrunches up his nose. “Not a lot.”
“That’s what I figured,” Boil sighs. He straightens up, uncertain of where to go from here. He’s found Waxer, and Cody is obviously all right with Waxer right where he is. That leaves Boil, standing around somewhat awkwardly. “Well, I’ll–... I’ll leave you to it then.”
“Or you could stay.”
It’s barely loud enough for Boil to hear but he turns around regardless. The scenery hasn’t changed, except Cody is looking almost embarrassed. Boil suspects that’s not a look Cody sports often.
“I–...,” Boil points at the datapad now lying by Cody’s side, “don’t you have work?”
Cody sighs. “Always.” He smiles. “I could use a break though.”
Boil scratches his head, hesitant. “You sure? You’re–...,” he gestures at Waxer in Cody’s lap, “you seem occupied.”
Cody looks down and hums. He slips out from underneath Waxer and bodily shoves him further up the bunk. Waxer’s only response is some grumbling and his hand blindly patting down the mattress in search of Cody.
Cody indicates the freshly cleared space. “There you go.” He sits back down, leaning his back against the wall and stretching his legs alongside Waxer, who flings his arm over Cody’s waist and pulls himself up so his head is exactly where it was before. Cody doesn’t seem to mind.
Waxer blinks one eye open and smiles, mumbling, “Hey, Boil.”
Boil takes a tentative step towards the bunk and leans down, hands on his hips. “Hey, Wax. Been looking for you.”
“You were?” Waxer coos and snuggles up closer to Cody, if that’s even possible. “That’s sweet.” He pats Cody’s other thigh like it’s a free spot on a couch. “Come lie down. It’s really comfy.”
Boil’s head snaps up to Cody’s face, expecting to see annoyance or bewilderment, but Cody smirks. “I’m comfy. You heard it here first.”
Boil can’t contain a chuckle. Prior to their relationship he didn’t know his commander had a funny streak. Naturally, a commander can’t keep cracking jokes when he’s directing an army on a battlefield, but it was interesting to find out that Cody was a deadpan snarker when he had the chance.
Eventually, Boil folds. And how could he not? That spot right next to Cody does look mighty inviting and Cody seems to enjoy playing pillow. Boil climbs onto the bed and tries to arrange himself so half his ass isn’t hanging off the edge of the bunk. Despite this being a commander’s quarters it’s still not a bed for three. Cody solves this by worming his arm around Boil’s back and hugging him closer. It takes Boil by surprise, albeit not unpleasantly.
What’s unpleasant is the edge of the datapad digging into Boil’s butt. He grimaces and shifts so he can extract it from underneath them. Cody snorts and takes it from him, studying the screen for a moment.
“Well, would you look at that,” Cody muses, “your butt solved the shift rotation matrix I’ve been working on.”
Boil perks up, frowning. “What, really?”
“No.” Cody snickers and drops the datapad on the floor. “You did send Rex half a page of keysmash though.”
Boil can feel his cheeks heat up so he hides his face in his hands. “Crap. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s used to it.”
Boil looks up, frowning. “You butt message him often?”
Cody gives him a lopsided smile and makes a dismissive gesture before his hand settles on Boil’s arm. “That’s probably the least irritating message I’ve sent him in a while.”
Boil realizes that there’s a whole world beyond his non-existent paygrade that he’s not privy to. Apparently, it’s a world where commanding officers annoy each other via holo messages. “And he’s not going to be worried or something?”
Cody laughs, then pinches the bridge of his nose. “For a minute, probably. Then he’ll send me a holo vid of Fives dancing bare assed to ‘We Don’t Need Another Jedi’ set to start playing during my next briefing.”
Boil clears his throat, trying very hard not to picture that. “That’s, uh… oddly specific.”
“He’s vicious. Don’t let his friendly attitude fool you.”
“Let us know if you ever want to retaliate in kind,” Waxer mumbles from somewhere around Cody’s crotch. He does a lazy thumbs-up before giving Boil’s thigh a good-natured smack.
Boil is pretty convinced that he does not want to get into a prank war with the 501st. They seem to take this kind of thing entirely too seriously. “I’m not sure I’ll be of any help,” he argues. “I don’t even know the song.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Cody grins while he meets the sleepy, upside-down fist-bump from Waxer, “we’ll think of something new.”