Chapter Text
Now
The planet was known for its spectacular views in the evenings, the brilliant glare of the primary star giving way to the pinpoint shine of each of the stars that lit the evening sky. Of the thousands of worlds that Obi-Wan Kenobi had seen in his life, of all the time he had spent traveling through the stars on his way to various planets in distress and to war, there was something truly special still about the stars above him, blinking happily down at him as he stood on the balcony of the room his kind hosts had given him for his stay.
It had been sudden and rather mysterious, the call to come to this planet he had never heard of before, the people’s leader saying xe would only speak to Obi-Wan, would only accept Master Kenobi as the voice to moderate the discussions with the feuding moon and the ascension into power of the Monarch Heir. And of course, negotiating peaceful trades and deals was what Obi-Wan was called to do, what he had dedicated his life to, the 3 years of war notwithstanding.
So he had gone, discerning looks and unspoken protests from his fellow council members be damned. Taken a ship and a protocol droid and headed for the far mid-rim. There had been a thrill of adventure that had raced up Obi-Wan’s spine as he hurtled through hyperspace, something almost like a longing for the way things had been in the old days before everything.
He cut that train of thought off as movement caught his eye far on the ground below. A humanoid figure, in achingly familiar (yet it couldn’t be him) mottled dark armor, moved from shadow to shadow, occasionally stopping and glancing around, as if knowing what they were doing was wrong in some way. Obi-Wan watched their progress through the garden below, and something in him screamed both danger and safety as his eyes tracked the figure. There was nothing about the suspicious movements that should give him any indication of safety, nothing remotely comforting about the fact an unknown figure was moving through the shadows towards the main part of the royal compound. Yet in the Force, he felt nothing but warmth and familiarity.
Still, his sense of duty niggled in the back of his mind and he watched the figure with a discerning eye as they slipped into the shadows and then did not reappear. He felt his breath catch as he waited to see if his mysterious humanoid would appear again, and felt the cool sense of almost alarm when they did not. The Force was calm when he reached out. This, however, did not settle his mind, experience told him something suspicious was happening and he wanted to know just what it was.
Glancing around the gardens below again, he pulled the Force close around him and hoisted himself up and over the balcony rail, and let himself fall, letting the Force wrap around him like a warm blanket, using it to control where and how hard he landed. For a brief moment before he hit the ground a familiar laugh tickled the back of his brain, the gruff spoken words making his heart skip a beat Always showing off.
It made him stagger slightly as he landed, but he kept his feet, adjusting his dark robe around him against the cool night air. He hoped no one would come looking for him as he headed for the patch of shadow where he had seen the figure disappear, his footfalls as careful as if he was infiltrating a hostile base. Which, that small voice in the back of his head whispered, he might just be for all they actually knew about this planet and its needs.
He reached the shadows and paused, resisting the urge to stroke his beard in thought. It wouldn’t do to have someone look out their window and see him contemplating a seemingly empty and shadowy part of the gardens. He reached out through the Force and felt that same dull but somehow familiar presence, and he frowned to himself, squinting into the darkness trying to see if he could make out the shape of the figure.
It was no good and he shook himself before he stepped into the shadows and let them engulf him. His heart pounded in his chest, his battle shock and other traumas from life as a Jedi making his body react to possible danger even when he knew intellectually that he was fine, there was mostly nothing going on.
The air shifted next to him and the Force sang out in warning with half a second before a strong gloved hand grabbed his right bicep. Obi-Wan reacted on instinct honed through decades of fights, managing to pull himself away but not entirely, as the attacker used his momentum against him, shoving Obi-Wan against the cool garden wall, knocking the air from his lungs, a vibro knife gleaming at his throat before the Force he had time to warn him.
“Getting slow, old man,” the modulated voice coming from the helmeted figure still somehow managed to be achingly fond and familiar.
Obi-Wan felt the Force grow warm around him and he took a deep breath, feeling his skin scrape against the blade as he swallowed. No wonder the Force presence felt dulled, the person was wearing beskar, a whole kit from the looks of it, black with painted swirls of orange, a familiar orange that made Obi-Wan’s heart clench. But he couldn’t be here. Could he?
“Who are you?” Obi-Wan asked softly, keeping his tone light as if they were just having a casual meeting in a caf shop, not in the shadowed alcove of the palatial garden of a planet on the verge of civil war.
The figure made a noise even though the vocoder sounded annoyed. “Damn beskar,” the figure swore, releasing Obi-Wan, who let out a soft sound of relief to no longer have a blade to his throat.
In almost a single motion, the figure sheathed their knife and doffed the helm. And almost at once, that warm light comforting Force signature of someone who had once been aching familiar crashed into Obi-Wan. That combined with the half-cocky grin on the face of the man Obi-Wan had once been (was still) in love with. Dark eyes appraised him from beneath heavy brows, the line of the scar around his left eye was light against his dark skin. He must have been someplace tropical last, or at least had been spending more time out of his kit, his face tanner than Obi-Wan remembered, under the scruff of beard Obi-Wan distinctly did not remember but was having a hard time now not thinking about.
“Hello, Cody,” Obi-Wan murmured, fighting the urge to reach for the man, to run his fingers through the curls that were longer than he had ever seen them, to trace his full lips with his fingers before pressing his own lips there, to see how the other man’s beard would feel beneath his lips, scratching against his own.
Cody quirked an eyebrow at him and tilted his head to one side slightly, keen eyes appraising him, searching for something, Obi-Wan didn’t know what. “Hello, Obi-Wan,” Cody replied after a long moment, his voice deep and cut with something Obi-Wan couldn’t identify.
“Been a while,” Obi-Wan spoke slowly, eyes flicking out to look anywhere but at Cody as if searching for the words in the darkness around them.
“Yeah. Comms work both ways.”
Obi-Wan swallowed hard against the sudden lump in his throat at the bitterness that colored the other man’s voice. It was true, comms did indeed work both ways. And he had been the one to break things so spectacularly the last time they had seen each other. There should have been no expectation that Cody would have reached out, not after, well everything. But it hadn’t stopped Obi-Wan from wishing, from hoping that the other man would.
“You’re right,” Obi-Wan said softly, meeting the hard stare of the other man’s gaze for a moment before looking away, “They do. I should have called.”
Cody only made a thoughtful noise of half agreement, still staring at Obi-Wan as if expecting him to do or say something profound. Or was expecting Obi-Wan to apologize, which he should, and he wanted to, but honestly what would an apology do at this point? Not much when there was something much more pressing at hand.
“Why are you here, Cody?”
That question made Cody blink once, just once before a veil of something unreadable passed over Cody’s face, his eyes going dark, face blank. “I think you know,” he said, voice pitched low as if suddenly remembering where they were, “The Jedi aren’t the only ones involved in this transfer of power.”
There was a tingle of warning in the Force at Cody’s words and Obi-Wan frowned at him. Pushing away from the wall, he frowned. “The Royal Council requested the Jedi’s presence for the transfer of power,” he said after a moment’s deliberation.
The look Cody gave him was one that Obi-Wan had seen many times while in strategy meetings during the war. It made his heart want to skip a beat. “No,” Cody said slowly, his tone slightly condescending, something Obi-Wan had never heard directed at him before, “The Royal Council hired you to come ‘encourage discussions’ or what-the-kark-ever, which really means they are stalling.”
“Stalling? Stalling for what? What are you talking about?”
Cody made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “You really are getting slow, Obi-Wan, too much time sitting on your council seat instead of out in the real world.”
Offense boiled in Obi-Wan’s blood, his pulse ticking up as he frowned harder at the man before him. “Now, I know we did not part -“
A hand cut him off, Cody scowling as he glanced around. “Not here,” he hissed, eyes narrowed in frustration. “If you want to talk, go into town tomorrow. The caf shop, 9 hundred hours local time. I’ll find you.”
Before Obi-Wan could even speak, Cody had donned his helmet and disappeared back into the shadows, leaving him alone in the actually rather small dark alcove next to the garden wall. Obi-Wan stood blinking for a moment in what could only be stunned silence before he chuckled. Good ole Cody. The man could still keep him on his toes, it seemed. Even after all these years.
***
The morning dawned bright and clear and Obi-Wan settled himself into a meditative stance on the balcony, overlooking the garden, the light of the sun peaking over the building behind him, washing the garden below him in warm light. He took a few deep centering breaths and reached for the Force, feeling its warmth and calm wash over him, embracing him like a warm hug from a lost friend. Letting his senses expand he became aware of the rest of the palatial complex waking up, the royal court servants and staff stirring to prepare the palace for the day.
Settling further into his mediation he reached out for an intimately familiar presence, floating along the currents of the Force that flowed so easily and readily around and through the whole planet. If Cody was wearing his full beskar again he would not be able to find him, but just like last night, if the man had even his bucket off then Obi-Wan should be able to find him and bask in the warmth of his presence.
But there was nothing, no hint of the man whom Obi-Wan had not seen in so very long. It had been far too long since they had last been on planet together, since they had even been in the same system, and far too long as well since they had last even talked. But if Cody was offering this as a peace offering then who was Obi-Wan to turn it down? Even if it meant getting involved in something that could potentially be very bad for the political stability of this planet.
He sank deeper into the warm currents of the Force, his thoughts tangled and jumbled, wanting to hear Cody out about what he was doing on this particular planet at this particular time when the Jedi has been called here, Obi-Wan had been called here by name, by the planet’s ruling class. The Force was being oddly quiet, suspiciously so, almost like it was nudging him to follow his own thoughts and feelings around this particular situation. Or maybe it was just fed up with him overthinking everything about anything that involved Cody.
Obi-Wan sighed to himself, letting himself float in the warmth of the Force, relishing in the comforting waves, but also knowing he was going to get no answers from the Force given how silent it had been recently. Guess he was on his own to find answers.
He let himself come back to consciousness slowly, mind floating along the easy currents of the living Force of the planet as he settled and centered himself for the day, his mind stilling and easing, putting aside the thoughts that plagued him. Several minutes later, the sun warm on his face and his mind more at ease than it had been in a while despite the looming sense of something coming, he blinked his eyes open slowly, taking in the extensive gardens before him. He frowned as he saw a small figure walking slowly through the paths, cloaked and hooded, Force presence familiar but not one he was intimately familiar with it seemed. When the figure turned slightly to head down another path, face now in profile, pale yellow skin finely tattooed and adorned with ceremonial jewels: this was the Monarch Heir.
Obi-Wan watched xem be stopped by one of the many guards, brief words exchanged, before the Monarch Heir was escorted quickly back inside, xyr shoulders hunched and tension bleeding from every part of xem’s body. Well, that was interesting, Obi-Wan thought, pushing himself up to stand, knees and back protesting as he did. When he had gotten old he would never know, but old he had apparently gotten.
The ache in his bone was not enough to distract him from the curious scene he had seen in the garden below, not that a monarch being called away was something strange in and of itself, no there was something off about the furtive glances, the way the Monarch Heir had seemed almost scared when the guard had approached xem. This combined with Cody’s words from last night - the first he’d heard his former lover speak in almost 3 years (almost as long as the war) - still bouncing around in his head, made him hyper-aware. It was enough to get him moving, pulling on outer clothes and boots, his cloak, pulling the cowl up to hide his features, tucking his hands in the wide sleeves. (A teasing voice in the back of his head, sounding like the man he’d known what felt like a lifetime ago, making fun of him for looking so very Jedi even when trying to blend in and be discrete.)
It was easy enough to slip out of the palatial complex, slipping among workers coming and going, their own garb full of browns and blacks and tans, much like his own. Each of them hooded and cloaked against the still early morning mists that seemed to pervade the city well until afternoon. Finding the cafe shop was easy as well, a large stand-alone building, flashing signs in both Basic and the local language, all swirls and flourishes, advertising over 100 different roasts of caf and just as many teas.
Something in the very deepest part of Obi-Wan’s soul ached at the what could have beens as he entered the shop, the scent of caf and tea mixing in his nose, jarring loose what should have been a long-buried memory of a time before but also during.
Chittering in the local language drew Obi-Wan’s attention to the young local approaching him. Xe looked young and was gesturing grandly with xyr hands with what accounted for a pleasant look on xyr's face as xe approached.
Obi-Wan returned the smile, bowing slightly at the waist, hands tucked inside his robe. “Greetings of light be upon you,” he said softly, the translation of the traditional greeting feeling strange on his tongue.
The local stopped and blinked once, a pleasant look slipping into confusion for a brief moment before xe smiled again. “Greetings of light, outsider,” xe chittered in Basic, the words sounding just as round and full of flourish as xyr’s native tongue, “Welcome to my shop, how may I serve you?”
The scents of the shop wafted around Obi-Wan again and he couldn’t help the warmth that bubbled over in his chest. He turned his attention back to the shopkeep about to make a request for tea when movement caught his eye. Mando armor, beskargam , dusted with familiar orange and hiding a once intimately familiar body. He swallowed hard as his gaze met the T-slit in the visor and Cody nodded his head to one side, clearly indicating that Obi-Wan should follow him.
“Apologies, kind shopkeep, it appears the person I am meeting has arrived,” Obi-Wan swept into another bow, his smile never waning as he met the local’s gaze once more, “I do dearly hope to return to sample the fine offerings of this shop, and of course, spend time in the company of the excellent proprietor.”
Xe chittered and made a nose that might have passed for a giggle, a fine-boned hand over xyr mouth as Obi-Wan stepped past them towards where Cody had disappeared into the shadows of the other room. There was an almost breathtaking temperature difference between the main room and this little side room, and Obi-Wan couldn’t help the little shiver as he pulled his cloak tighter around him.
Cody was perched on the edge of a chair that looked like it was about to break under the weight of him and his armor. Even without being able to sense him in the Force, Obi-Wan could tell something was off with the man, the stiff set of his shoulders, the tilt of his head, the way he sat perched as if ready to pounce. Obi-Wan hadn’t seen him like this since the late days of the war.
“You really haven’t changed.”
The tone was flat even through the vocorder and Obi-Wan couldn’t help the confused tilt of his head. A hush of static over the vocorder and Cody doffed his helm, dark eyes appraising and calculating in a way that made Obi-Wan tighten his mental shields almost subconsciously, as the once warm and welcoming Force presence washed over him, full of emotions that had no names. Which was ridiculous, this was Cody after all, but the man who sat before him now was so different than the man he had known during the war, he was even different from the man he had been the last time they had seen each other. Well, Obi-Wan mused as he held the other man’s calculating gaze, I suppose we are both changed men after that last time.
“You always have flirted with anyone and anything,” Cody said, his tone even flatter than it had been through the vocorder, a single eyebrow quirking slightly at him. There was nothing of the old familiar teasing in Cody’s tone and something in Obi-Wan’s chest ached.
“Never seriously,” he replied softly, pulling his gaze from Cody’s to glance around the room. The shades were drawn tight, the hearth glowed with extinguished embers, and the faint smell of tea and caf hung in the air.
Cody stare at him for a moment longer before he made the slightest noise that could have been a sigh and set his helm on the table next to him, his movements stiff and controlled as if he was in pain, his expression and the Force give Obi-Wan no clue to what was actually going through Cody’s head. Instead, Cody used one booted foot to push the chair opposite him out to Obi-Wan and then watched as Obi-Wan crossed the small space in a handful of steps and sank into the chair, feeling less than graceful and very very watched.
The silence that stretched between them was more than deafening as they stared at each other, tension crackling in the Force between them, screaming at Obi-Wan to say something, do something, anything. But Cody beat him.
“Why are you here, Obi-Wan?”
The way the other man said his name still sent shivers down his spine. After so long of only hearing the man call him by his title - unearned and hated and loaded with so much meaning that did nothing but highlight the stark divide between them for the entire war - hearing him call him by his given name would never not make his mouth dry and his soul cry out.
“I told you last night, the Royal Council on behalf of the Monarch Heir asked the council to send someone and I volunteered,” he replied softly, not sure how secure this space was, not wanting to share the sensitive information of the Monarch Heir’s apparent request via the Royal Council just anywhere.
Cody scoffed at him all but rolling his eyes at him. “No the Monarch Hier didn’t ask the Council to ask you, there is no way xe could have, not when xe hired me to find out who is trying to kill xyr.”
The Force screamed at Obi-Wan the truth of Cody’s words, the utter sincerity of them, or at least the believed sincerity of them, by the man speaking was like a wash of boiling hot water over Obi-Wan’s head. Which made sense, Cody never did anything that he did not believe in 100%, even during the war, he had pushed as much as he could when something didn’t settle well with his surprisingly well-developed moral code. (This is not to say that this moral code didn’t evolve over the years as he learned more about the universe and the creatures that lived in it but still Cody was always driven by a code, almost more strictly than the Jedi were, never faltering and always serious about his stances.)
“If the Monarch Heir called you who called the Council pretending to represent the Monarch heir?” Obi-Wan mused, stroking his fingers over his mustache and beard, mind whirring a thousand miles a second as he puzzled the mystery out.
Across from him, Cody shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That’s the part that has you concerned?” he said his tone tight and a hair more than icy. “The fact you don’t know who made the call to the Jedi Council? When I just told you that the Monarch Heir is worried about being murdered?”
That feeling of ice water being splashed over his head would never stop being unpleasant even if it was just the Force bitch slapping him. Which he supposed he needed even as he blinked rapidly at the frustrated glint in Cody’s eye.
“Who is trying to kill the Monarch Heir, Cody?” He asked softly.
Cody fixed him with a look that was full of something Obi-Wan couldn’t name, emotions he didn’t have the space to acknowledge choking him as Cody spoke:
“The group who called the Jedi: the Royal Council.”
Then
Awareness came slowly, not something that he could say happened on a normal day, but today, in spacedock above Coruscant, with shore leave already started, he could allow it. This didn’t mean he didn’t have about 100 thousand things still on his to-do list, most pressing a meeting with the council at the Temple at 10 standard hours, but for now, for a chance to revel in the feeling of waking slowly, it could all wait. It could especially wait as awareness came slowly and the feeling of his lover curled in his arms made his body burn.
Cody was tucked around him like a warm, breathing blanket, face smooshed in the back of Obi-Wan’s neck, arms firm but comfortable around Obi-Wan’s middle as they lay front to back on the small berth that Obi-Wan called his bed while on the Negotiator . It was nothing like what he wished for them, the larger bed he had in his neglected quarters in the temple instead of his small berth on ship, sharing nice home-cooked meals over fine wine instead of field rations with instant caf. But for now, it was enough to wake in his lover’s arms, to share this moment of quiet, relishing in the feeling of the gentle puff of warm breath against the back of his neck that told him his lover was alive and well.
Behind him, a hitch in breath told him Cody was on the verge of waking. The commander normally woke all at once, going from deep sleep to awake in a span of seconds, but it seemed the promised shore leave was enough to make him wake slowly just like Obi-Wan.
“Mhhh,” a mumbled sigh made Obi-Wan smile and press his whole body, hips first, back against the Commander. The tone changed from something soft and sleepy to something interested and more awake as Obi-Wan could feel the hard line of the Commander’s morning erection pressing firmly against his lower back.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and shifted his hips against his lover. Who rumbled out a low and slow groan, hips jerking forward seeking friction, even his breath caught against Obi-Wan’s neck, arms tightening around him.
“Like this, hmm?” Cody rasped against Obi-Wan’s neck, lips damp and tongue teasing at the taste of his skin.
Obi-Wan rocked his hips back, feeling Cody’s hips jerk in response, teeth catching his skin. “Less clothes?” Obi-Wan murmured in reply, his words breaking off in a gasp as a war-calloused hand slipped down his sleep pants, finding his erection, Cody’s grip just the angle and firmness to make light spark behind his eyes.
“Love the way you feel.” Cody’s words were soft and barely spoken, his hand moving along the length of Obi-Wan’s cock, breath hot against the back of Obi-Wan’s neck. Obi-Wan gasped as he rocked back against the hard long line of Cody’s cock. This wasn’t going to take long, in fact he could already feel the heat of his orgasm boiling in his lower belly, could feel through the Force the searing heat of Cody’s desire, his pleasure, as they rocked together, Cody’s hips pressing against Obi-Wan, his hand down Obi-Wan’s trousers, both fully clothed.
All it took was a well-placed thumb over the head of Obi-Wan’s cock to send him over the edge, and he came with a garbled groan, mind completely whiting out, as he felt Cody’s hips stutter against him, and his teeth scrape against the back of his neck.
It took a moment for them both to come down from the high, Obi-Wan was content to let himself float on the endorphin high, knowing he had nothing pressing at the moment to pull him away from savoring this moment with his lover. It was Cody’s soft chuckle turning into almost boisterous belly laughs that drew him out of his feeling of floating.
“What?” he asked, feeling his own mirth bubbling to the surface.
Cody pressed his face against the back of Obi-Wan’s neck, his breath hot over the cooling sweat there. “We have all morning and we just had a quickie,” Cody gasped out between his chuckles.
Obi-Wan couldn’t help but agree, a feeling of mischievousness creeping in as he pulled himself away from his lover just enough for him to turn around. Maybe they could put the Commander’s famed recovery period to the test this morning, at least until Obi-Wan had to head planet side for his briefing, but they had a few hours yet.
“Yeah, well we can’t have that, not on shore leave,” Obi-Wan pitched his voice low, looking at Cody from under his eyelashes and he saw more than heard Cody swallow, his pupil blown. And pressing against him told Obi-Wan his cock was already starting to fill out.
The kiss was almost desperate, full of unspoken things they couldn’t bring themselves to say, not now, not during a war, not in the middle of it all. But they knew, how could they not? It was clear to anyone who had eyes what they were to each other. And they knew it too.
“I want you to fuck me,” Obi-Wan whispered into the kiss, “And I want it as hard as you can give me.”
Cody pulled back to look at him with wide pupil-blown eyes, and Obi-Wan felt his body react, cock twitching and cunt spasming around nothing. Calloused hands smoothed under his simple nightshirt and it was gone in a moment. With a whoosh of breath, Obi-Wan found himself on his back, Cody hovering over him, his chest bare, nippled pebbling in the cool air.
“No,” Cody said slowly, running his hands down Obi-Wan’s sides, fingers tracing over lines of muscle and hair, down to the waistband of Obi-Wan’s sleep pants. The word hung in the air between them as Cody hooked his thumbs in the waistband and pulled, Obi-Wan lifting his hips to help pull his trousers down. They shuffled for a second, Cody losing his shirt and trousers, his hard already leaking cock standing proud between his thick thighs.
“No,” Cody said again, “I won’t fuck you.” His hands found Obi-Wan’s nipples and he teased at them for a second before he pushed his thighs apart, fingers trailing over hip bones, past Obi-Wan’s hardening cock to slip below, where his balls should have hung to tease at the hot wet lips there. Obi-Wan gasped as one thick finger slipped inside just slightly.
“I won’t fuck you, Obi-Wan,” Cody repeated, pushing his single finger inside Obi-Wan’s tight hot body, “I will make love to you.”
Obi-Wan gasped as that finger twisted just slightly and found the spot inside him that made him see stars. “Please, yes, Cody,” he gasped out, letting himself be manhandled so Cody knelt between his thighs, legs over Cody’s shoulders, whole body shivering as the hard wet head of Cody’s cock brushed against him. It was always a stretch, Cody being larger than any he had ever taken before this way, but it was always worth it, always worth the slight ache to feel his lover so intimately inside him.
And it really was lovemaking. Cody pushing into him by slow inches, first the head, rocking slowly with just the head in him, before pushing in a little more. Tears leaked from Obi-Wan’s eyes and he felt like a puddle of goo by the time Cody had bottomed out, hips flush with Obi-Wan’s.
“How do you feel?”
Obi-Wan cracked his eyes open, he hadn’t even realized he had closed them, looking up into the warm dark depth of his lover’s eyes. “Like I really would love if you moved,” Obi-Wan teased, clenching his internal muscles around Cody.
Cody smirked down at him and drew back and thrust in slow and deep and hard. It was enough to make Obi-Wan arch his back and toss his head back, a gasp punched out of him forcefully.
“This is making love, Obi-Wan,” Cody spoke softly, alternating between speaking and fucking into Obi-Wan’s willing body beneath him, “This is what it looks like.” Hands tightened on Obi-Wan’s hips and the wet sound of their bodies joining filled the space between them. “This is how you deserve to be treated, taken apart slowly, and put back together just as slowly.”
Obi-Wan couldn’t form words, had no air in his body to make any noise but breathy gasps as he lost himself to the feeling of his lover taking him apart. His cunt screamed in pleasure, his cock ached, and he wanted the feeling of Cody filling him up.
“C-cody,” he managed to gasp out, hand flailing around for Cody’s and they laced their fingers together, Obi-Wan’s feet flopping over Cody’s shoulders as Cody all but bent him in half. “In me, please,” he gasped, and no sooner than the words had been gasped out, he felt Cody’s rhythm falter and searing heat fill him. He shivered at the feeling of it.
As fast as it happened, Cody’s hips jerking against him for a brief moment, before he pulled out, dropping Obi-Wan’s legs, and his cock was replaced by his warm wet wriggling tongue. Obi-Wan all but screamed as he felt Cody licking into his cunt, calloused fingers once more wrapped around his cock, holding it out of the way as Cody licked and lapped and sucked at Obi-Wan’s dripping cunt.
Cody groaned at the taste, nose pressing against the base of Obi-Wan’s cock where he was oddly sensitive, tongue lapping at him as if seeking all that Cody had just spent inside him. Honestly, he might have been. But it was enough, the hand just covering the head of his cock, playing with the glands there, tongue in his cunt, the Force singing to him of pleasure and love and so much more. Obi-Wan felt his body tense and he was coming, cock erupting, cunt spasming against Cody’s face and tongue and lips.
He must have blacked out because he came to cradled in Cody’s arms, bare skin to bare skin, a warmth beneath his skin that made him want to cry. Soft kisses were being pressed against the tops of his shoulders and made a happy noise, turning his head to catch Cody’s lips with his. The kiss was soft and gentle and he could taste himself and Cody on his lover’s tongue; it was almost enough to make his body react again, but he wasn’t as young as he had been once.
“I love you,” he murmured into the kiss, feeling Cody’s lips curl in a smile and he let himself get lost in the kiss for the few moments they had before real life had to come crashing back in.
Now
The silence that stretched between them was deafening and for once in Obi-Wan’s life, he was at a complete loss for words (well, not quite the first time it had happen actually, and not even the first time with Cody being involved, the little voice in the back of his brain whispered, what was it about Cody that turned Obi-Wan into an idiot?).
The Force was humming with the truth of Cody’s words, the pervasive unease he had been sensing at the Royal Compound making sense now, the way the Monarch Heir had been acting strange, furtive as if someone was trying to kill xem. But something didn’t add up, if the Royal Council was trying to kill the Monarch Heir then why had he been called here? Who had hired Cody? Why was the Royal Council trying to kill the Monarch Heir? There were so many questions, none of which he had answers for.
“Why?” was the one that left his lips once he found the air to speak again.
Cody cocked his head at him like an inquisitive tooka. “Why?” Cody echoed back, quirking an eyebrow, “Why what? Why did the Royal Council call you here? Why are they trying to kill their Monarch? Why do the suns set in the south? Why is the tea here better than the caf? There are a lot of whys Obi-Wan, I’m going to need you to be more specific.”
Obi-Wan shook himself at the blunt words realizing immediately he was being foolish. This was no longer the man who had put up with his antics during the War, this man before him was his own man, a person in his own right who had better things to do with his time than deal with Obi-Wan.
“If the Royal Council is trying to kill the Monarch Heir, why call me here? Why want a witness from the Republic? Especially with the Senate seat under review, now of all time, I wouldn’t think xey would want to be under negative scrutiny,” Obi-Wan said slowly, thoughtfully, stroking his beard, the gesture both comforting and contemplative.
Something gleamed in Cody’s eyes and his smile was all but feral. “Now you're asking the right questions,” Cody said softly, with a small smirk, “Ones that I don’t have the answers to but the right questions nonetheless.”
Obi-Wan frowned at the other man, the Force buzzing around him, nudging him to probe deeper. “You must have some idea of the Royal Council’s plan, Cody, you wouldn’t have gotten involved if you didn’t, I know you better than that.”
That must have been the wrong thing to say because Cody’s face went blank, fury blazed in his eyes and his words were cold, “Maybe once you did, General , but not anymore.”
Obi-Wan flinched at the spat title, once spoken with respect now spoken in anger. He supposed he deserved that, he deserved every ounce of Cody’s anger after everything.
“You’re right,” he spoke softly, regret tinging his tone, allowing himself to feel the full force of his emotions for once instead of releasing them, “You are right, Cody, I have no right or place to presume that I know you any longer. You are, and have always been, your own man. I am sorry for the pain I caused you, and for whatever pain I continue to cause you. I can’t change what happened between us, I can’t take back the words spoken from fear and anger. And I have no right to even ask for any form of forgiveness. I can only hope that one day we can perhaps, rekindle, at least, a friendship.” Obi-Wan paused for a moment, “You were - are - have always been - my friend above everything else.”
The words hung in the air between them for a long moment, Cody staring at him, expression unreadable but full of anger, anger that was more than justified given everything. In the other room, the shop keep was humming a soft tune and the smell of brewing tea filtered in, tickling Obi-Wan’s nose and making him think back to the statement Cody had made about the tea being better than the caf, and a very large part of him wished that they could go back to how they had been, once upon a time, before it all, where Obi-Wan could tease Cody about his hatred of tea and Cody could tease him right back, freely, about Obi-Wan’s obsession with tea.
“I can’t forgive you,” Cody’s voice was soft when it broke the silence between them, “Not yet. Obi-Wan, I want to, more than anything, but I can’t, I can’t trust -” Cody trailed off, swallowing hard.
Obi-Wan nodded. “I understand,” he replied just as softly even though it felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest. “I will keep out of your way while you complete whatever mission you have to complete here, I won’t interfere.”
“I asked you here to ask for your help, Obi-Wan,” the words were full of a once familiar exasperation and something leapt in Obi-Wan’s chest, “I need someone I trust at my back.”
The confusion must have been plain on Obi-Wan’s face because Cody met his eye, honey eyes burning bright with conviction and familiar passion. “I trust you with my life, Obi-Wan, I always have and always will,” he said voice strong and firm, but he paused, swallowing hard, blinking rapidly a few times, eyes taking on a gentle shine, “It’s my heart I can’t trust you with.”
Obi-Wan felt like the air had been knocked from his lungs. Of all the things he had thought Cody would say, of all the times he had imagined this conversation, that he had dreamed of talking to Cody again, this was not any way what he had thought he would hear. To be told the man trusted Obi-Wan to keep him alive but did not trust him with his heart, with his love, stung in ways that Obi-Wan wasn’t sure he would ever have words to describe.
He swallowed hard against the hard lump in his throat and met Cody’s gaze, finding a swirl of emotion and things better left unsaid. “I understand,” he said softly, wanting to reach for him, “I understand.”
The words hung in the air between them for a long moment, the only sound was that of their breathing, falling into sync like it always had even from the very beginning, and the muffled sounds of the city coming to life beyond them.
“What’s your plan?” Obi-Wan finally spoke.
Cody’s grin was almost feral before he replied.
Then
Cody could feel the single bead of sweat slowly dripping down the back of his neck. It tickled in its path but he dare not move. Not now, not yet. Not as the passenger ship slowly lowered into the hanger bay, bringing with it the final missing piece of their command before they would be shipped out, sent to the front most likely. It was what Cody was trained for, what he had been born for, and he wasn’t anxious because of that. No. He was meeting for the first time the jetii who would be their General.
He flexed his fingers around the edge of his bucket, fighting the age-old urge to fidget as the carrier landed with a soft thump and hiss and he swallowed back the nervous energy that spiked his heart rate and made a second bead of sweat join the first.
The hiss of the land ramp was loud in his ears and a man, robed in dark brown was making his way down the ramp towards Cody. There was an easiness around the man, the way he moved belied a grace that might be unassuming but that Cody could tell belonged to a warrior. Floppy copper-colored hair fell over one side of the man’s forehead, a beard the same color covered his cheeks, eyes bright and blue and sparking with dangerous intelligence met Cody’s and for a long second it felt like all the air had been sucked from Cody’s lungs.
As the jetii approached Cody felt his body heat, something inside him reacting to the way the man looked and with horror he realized it was desire, lust, need . Somehow, for some reason, his treacherous mind decided he was attracted to the General! The General who was a jetii and whom he had not even met! Stamping down on those thoughts he snapped off a perfect salute as the General reached him.
“General, CC-2224 awaiting orders, sir,” he barked out, voice strong and sure, words practiced again and again his whole life, nothing to tell that he was a bubbling mess inside.
The General gave him a look that Cody wanted to call gentle but that had no place in war. And that fissure that had started somewhere inside Cody grew a little more.
“Commander,” the General spoke with a soft voice, accent lilting and that treacherous part of Cody purred at the sound of it, “Thank you for the welcome, I am Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.” And here the jetii did the strangest thing, Cody could only blink as he folded his hands in front of him in the long sleeves of his robe and bowed to Cody. “It is a pleasure to meet you and to serve with you,” the jetii spoke again after he had straightened up, his eyes meeting Cody’s again.
Cody didn’t know how he was supposed to respond to this, this hadn’t been in the flash lessons, in the many many lectures, in anything he’d read to prepare to meet his General. So instead he just nodded once sharply, feeling his heart skip a beat when the General smiled at him.
“May I show you to your quarters, General?” Cody found the words somewhere and made a sharp heel-click turn when the General gestured for him to lead on. Silence stretched between them as the jetii fell in step beside Cody and Cody lead them through the ship toward the General’s newly appointed quarters.
“I will admit, Commander, I find myself at an impasse,” the General’s voice was warm when he spoke, breaking the silence between them, “I understand names are a personal thing for you and your brothers, and yet, I find I am unable to bring myself to refer to you as a number.”
That thing deeper inside Cody, deeper than any surface-level attraction deeper than any passing lust, warmed and flared to life, the fissure growing more steadily than Cody would even admit. The General knew they had names, which made sense, he was jetiise they could sense things others couldn’t, knew things about people.
They reached the turbo lift to take them up to the proper deck and Cody turned to look at the man next to him, soft and gentle in his dark brown robe, the tan tunics Cody could see underneath, his kind blue eyes. Their eyes met and at that moment Cody made a decision as the turbo lift arrived and they stepped on, the only ones in the lift, Cody punching in the proper deck.
“Cody,” he said at last, “My name, sir, is Cody.”