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Cody took a step outside, breathing in the cool night air. Sleep was a struggle lately. Maybe it was everything going on around him. Ahsoka started high school, Padmé is struggling with the twins, Cody graduated the police academy, Rex is graduating college soon, and Obi-Wan became a history teacher at Ahsoka’s high school. Life was good, but also tiring. There’s been a big criminal investigation going on involving the mayor, Palpatine. It’s suspected he’s responsible for Anakin’s recent disappearance.
Of course, he denies all involvement, but everyone knows.
Anakin disappearing has taken a toll on everyone, especially Padmé. Rex goes over to help out with Luke and Leia whenever he can, same with Obi-Wan and Cody. Ahsoka’s also been living with Rex for the meantime while Padmé figures everything out.
Cody sighed as he leaned against the railing of his front porch. It was a nice night, quiet with a small breeze. He looked at his watch, 2:04 a.m. Maybe he could give Obi-Wan a call? Sometimes he answers this late at night. Cody suspects Obi-Wan hasn’t been getting much sleep lately either (if the bags under his eyes aren’t an indicator, he also falls asleep grading papers sometimes). Cody visited him a lot after school hours while he was grading, typically bringing food if Obi-Wan requested it. Ahsoka stays sometimes, too, for help with history.
Cody stared at his watch for a long while before eventually deciding to call Obi-Wan. He tapped a few buttons, pressing call once he reached Obi-Wan’s contact. It rang, and rang a little longer, until he answered.
“Hello?” He sounded groggy, like he was woken up.
“Mornin’, sir. Did I wake you?” Cody questioned, his voice coming out softer.
“Not at all. It’s only…” A pause. “2:10 in the morning. Of course you didn’t wake me,” he replied, that sarcasm still evident even when he had just woken up.
“Sorry, sir.”
“Drop the ‘sir’, Cody. You know I don’t like you being formal when it’s just us talking,” Obi-Wan said with a yawn following soon after. “Why are you even up so late? Did counting sheep not work?” He teased.
Cody chuckled, “That’s my bad. Sorry, Obi-Wan.” He thought about his next words, eventually settling on: “Something like that. I guess Anakin’s disappearance is weighing on me.”
“As it is on all of us. Anakin is like a brother to me, it’s painful to know I can’t see or talk to him anymore as of now.” Some rustling could be heard from Obi-Wan’s end following by a sigh. “I’m coming over. Might as well talk in person now that we’re both up,” he declared.
“Don’t you have papers to grade? You were just complaining about it yesterday,” he questioned, sounding a little surprised.
“It’s fine, I have the rest of the weekend. Plus, it’s only Saturday. I get Monday off because of one of those silly little holidays the students get.”
Obi-Wan flicked on the dim light that illuminated the little hallway near the door that lead to his garage. He slid on a pair of sandals before grabbing his keys and heading out.
“I’ll be there in a bit, bye Cody,” he stated.
“Copy that, see you soon,” Cody responded before hanging up. He made his way over to one of the two chairs he had set up on his porch and sat down, waiting for Obi-Wan to arrive. He fiddled with the hem of his shirt, glancing up every now and again to look for Obi-Wan’s car. Soon enough, the headlights of a familiar car illuminated his driveway. He stood up and waved as the car shut off and out came Obi-Wan. After closing the car door, he walked up to the porch to greet Cody.
“Hello there, Cody,” he said with a tired smile.
“Hello, sir— Obi-Wan. Almost messed up there,” Cody replied with a chuckle. “Wanna head inside?”
Obi-Wan nodded then just walked right in. He’s been there a million times, so it just felt natural to him. Cody followed suit and closed the door behind them, locking it just in case. He’s been paranoid lately. Obi-Wan walked over to the couch and practically melted into cushions.
“It’s nice to have a change of scenery,” Obi-Wan remarked. Cody nodded his head in agreement as he sat down near him. Not too close, but not too far either. “How have you been?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Tired, as per usual. I’m not on call this weekend, so that’s a win,” Cody answered.
“Maybe if you actually slept, you wouldn’t be as tired,” Obi-Wan added jokingly.
“You can’t be talking. You’re here at 2:30 in the morning because you wanted to talk to me in person,” Cody replied, gesturing to Obi-Wan to emphasize his point.
Obi-Wan pointed at Cody. “You’re the one who woke me up, Cody. I simply decided to come over and give you company because you clearly missed me,”he teased. Cody shook his head as he relaxed back into the couch.
“So what? A little company couldn’t hurt anyone,” he retorted. “I knew you’d answer, so that’s why I chose to call you.” Cody crossed his arms and glanced over at Obi-Wan. He had that stupid, smug smirk he always seemed to adorn whenever teasing someone. Cody had a love-hate relationship with that smirk. He liked—loved—the way it looked on Obi-Wan, but hated how much he loved it. How it always made that fluttery feeling rise in his chest. He hated how much he loved it.
Cody had seemed to zone out, probably staring at Obi-Wan.
“Cody?” Obi-Wan sat up and arched an eyebrow. “You still with me?” Cody shook his head and blinked a few times, his vision coming back into focus.
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry,” he replied. “Just… Tired.” Cody rubbed the back of his neck and gave a small, awkward, reassuring grin. Obi-Wan seemed to observe Cody’s face closer, like he was trying to figure out if Cody was just tired as he said, or something else.
“Something’s troubling you,” Obi-Wan stated, leaning back, but still observant. “I can sense it and see it on your face.”
“Aren’t we all troubled right now? You know, Anakin’s disappearance, the strange, paranoid feeling returning. All of it’s troubling,” Cody deflected his feelings smoothly, or so he thought.
“I know it’s not just that, Cody. It’s something else,” he responded quickly. Cody was surprised, but what did he expect? Obi-Wan is good at seeing through people when he puts his mind to it. Of course he knew it wasn’t just his vague excuse of an answer.
Cody sighed and turned away, sinking into the couch cushions. Sometimes he wished he could just melt away into them, escape some of his senseless thoughts.
“I don’t want to talk about it. It’s more…” Cody trailed off, thinking of the right words to put together. “It’s more personal stuff. Something I don’t exactly want to share with anyone yet,” he finished.
Obi-Wan nodded in understanding. He didn’t push. If Cody didn’t want to talk about it yet, then that was fine. He could come to him whenever he’s ready.
“I understand,” Obi-Wan replied after a few seconds of silence. “You can come to me whenever you’re ready to talk about it. I’m always here for you.” He gave Cody a reassuring smile and nod, reaching out to touch his shoulder in show of support.
“Whatever it is, I promise I won’t judge you. I can tell it’s a touchy subject and I respect that.” Obi-Wan added, lifting his hand from Cody’s shoulder after giving it a gentle squeeze, returning it to rest in his lap.
“Thank you, Obi-Wan,” he replied in a quieter voice, quieter than what he meant to speak. He then smiled, this warm, gentle smile that all of the clones seemed to have. But obviously, in Obi-Wan’s opinion, Cody always did it best. Obi-Wan couldn’t help his smile from widening. He always enjoyed his time spent with Cody, even if it was at around 2:30 in the morning.
Cody cleared his throat and glanced around the room, thinking about what to say next.
“Do you want to do anything? Or just sit here staring at each other?” Cody asked in a teasing tone, that smile still there. Obi-Wan brought a hand to his chin, clearly pondering on their limited options. They could watch TV, but that didn’t seem right. They could continue just talking about random stuff, that sounded fine. Maybe they could go on a walk? It was a nice night and it’s always good to get fresh air. He let out a soft hum, leaning back into the couch.
“We could go on a walk to the nearby gas station and grab some snacks. I’m pretty sure it’s open 24/7,” he suggested, looking to Cody’s face for approval. Cody nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Cody replied before standing up and stretching his arms above his head. “I’ll grab my wallet real quick, be right back.”
With that, Cody made his way to his bedroom, which was towards the back of his one story house. He pushed open the door, making his way over to his nightstand in a few quick strides. Cody grabbed and pocketed his wallet before heading back out to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan was already at the door, looking around the room as he waited for Cody. Almost as quickly as he left, Cody was at the door sliding some shoes on. Obi-Wan twisted the door handle when Cody was done putting his shoes on and pushed it open. A gentle breeze hit them as they stepped outside. The dim street lights illuminating the street ahead of them as they walked to the sidewalk, matching each other’s pace with ease. Cody paused for a second.
“Did I lock the door?” Cody muttered questioningly, more to himself if anything.
“You can go double check, you know. Nobody’s stopping you,” Obi-Wan replied, crossing his arms. He understood his paranoia, everyone’s been on edge lately.
Before he even finished speaking, Cody was already at the door, double checking the lock. He lifted the door mat to grab his key and lock it, but it wasn’t there.
“Obi-Wan? Do you have that spare key I gave you? I don’t remember where I put mine…” Cody turned around to face Obi-Wan, who was already walking towards him, going through his keyring.
“Let’s see… Yeah, right here,” he replied, holding up the key with “Cody♡” labeled on it in sharpie to separate it from the rest. Surprisingly, Cody didn’t question the little heart. Obi-Wan walked over, stuck the key in and twisted it until it locked.
“Thanks, but,” Cody paused, “why do you have so many keys?” Obi-Wan chuckled before responding, a little glad the heart wasn’t questioned.
“I have my car keys, then the spare you gave me. Anakin also gave me a copy of his key because he ‘didn’t want to get up and answer the door every time I visited’. And the keys to my classroom.” Obi-Wan explained as he dropped his little keyring back into his pocket. “We’ll have to look for your misplaced key when we get back. Maybe it’s just stuck to the bottom of the mat? Or you could’ve moved it and forgot,” he suggested, earning a hesitant nod from Cody.
“Yeah, probably,” he agreed hesitantly. He didn’t like the thought of not finding his key, it made an uneasy pit sink in his stomach. Obi-Wan tilted his head, noticing Cody’s unease.
“We’ll find it, Cody. I’m positive it wasn’t stolen by anybody,” Obi-Wan tried to reassure him. Cody sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Let’s go to the gas station now, yeah? Keep our minds off of this,” Obi-Wan suggested, giving Cody’s shoulder a little nudge. Cody nodded, walking down the steps and towards the sidewalk, Obi-Wan following closely behind.
A comfortable, but slightly awkward silence fell between them. Both of them wanted to say something, but the silence was also nice.
Eventually, Cody spoke, “I always liked how quiet it is this early. Nobody’s out doing whatever they do.” He looked around at the streetlights and empty sidewalks.
“I agree. The temperature is nice, too,” Obi-Wan replied. “Not too hot, not too cold. Compared to the blazing hot days, it’s comfortable.”
Cody smiled, spotting the gas station up ahead. They reached an intersection with one car waiting for the green arrow to turn. It was a little funny considering there were no other cars. The two walked across the road and towards the gas station. Cody made it there first and pulled the door open, the little chime filling the silence.
“After you,” Cody said, holding the door open.
“You’re too kind,” Obi-Wan replied teasingly as he walked inside.
Cody followed Obi-Wan to the small section with an even smaller selection of chips. He already knew what he wanted, he just wanted to be near Obi-Wan. Eventually, Obi-Wan settled on a bag of cheesy popcorn.
“Do you know what you want yet, Cody?”
Cody didn’t want it to be found out that he just wanted to be near Obi-wan, so he made a little excuse.
“I’m gonna go look at the sunflower seeds and stuff, nothing here has piqued my interest,” he replied. fidgeting with his wallet in his pocket. “So I’ll just be over there,” he added before shuffling over and grabbing a small bag of salted sunflower seeds. Cody met back up with Obi-Wan at the check out.
“I’ll pay for it,” Cody said to Obi-Wan as the very tired-looking cashier rang up their stuff.
“You sure?”
“It’s only $10, of course.”
“I mean, if you insist,” Obi-Wan replied, crossing his arms loosely in front of his chest. Cody took his wallet out and pulled his card from the sleeve it was in. He inserted it into the keypad and typed his pin.
“Do you want a receipt?” The cashier asked as the receipt slid out of the printer.
“No thanks,” Cody replied as he took his card back into his wallet and pocketed it. Obi-Wan reached over and grabbed his bag of popcorn.
“Alright, you two have a good night.”
“Thank you, you too,” both Cody and Obi-Wan replied. Cody grabbed his sunflower seeds before they made their way out. This time Obi-Wan held the door for Cody.
“Thank you for paying for my stuff.” Obi-Wan said, fidgeting with the packaging of his snack. They walked through the parking lot and back towards the intersection.
“You’re welcome,” Cody replied, smiling softly.
“You know, maybe we could do this more often. It’s nice hanging out at 3am. It feels like we’re teenagers again.” Obi-Wan chuckled. “It’s always nice hanging out with you, Cody.”
“Maybe we should,” Cody said, his smile growing. “I enjoy spending time with you, too, Obi-Wan.”
They both smiled as they walked the rest of the way back to Cody’s house. A comfortable silence settling between them once again.
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2,566 words! I wanted to do 2,224, but the more the merrier.