Work Text:
Felucia is, of course, a shitshow. Cody should probably ask if the bond means he's inheriting Obi-Wan's prescience.
They're limping back to Coruscant, now, down too many vod'e [troopers] and fuck all to show for it, and Obi-Wan's in the medbay with a hole in his side, ruining all of Cody's post-battle plans. He's done a round of the barracks, the training salle, the bridge; he's been firmly kicked out of inventory by Spec; he doesn't trust himself to spar. Retreating always winds him up like this, all the anticipation of the fight and no payoff.
He ducks into the medbay, one last time, and is met at the door by an exhausted Kabu.
"I sedated him," Kabu says, too tired for inflection. "You're as bad as each other, he was gonna fuck up his stitches."
"Right," Cody says. He can see Obi-Wan – he's always in a bed near the door; finding any possible reason to swing past the medbay while Obi-Wan is inside isn't a habit unique to Cody. He can see Obi-Wan is very much unconscious. He can see Kabu does not need to put up with his bullshit. "Alright. Wouldn't sedate me, would you?"
"We do not get nearly enough supplies to support anyone developing a dependency," Kabu says, the standard medic line. Then adds, very much not the standard medic line, "Waxer's got that rotgut, still. Get addicted to something we can brew up ourselves, like the competent man I know you are."
"There's several things wrong with that sentence," Cody says, and lets it serve as a goodbye. Kabu's, thankfully, just as shit with niceties.
He goes, for lack of anywhere else, back to his bunk.
Then, because they lost too many fucking men and his thoughts won't stop chasing themselves in circles, he gets up, and goes to Obi-Wan's bunk. It's essentially the exact same room, as Obi-Wan has just as few personal effects and, also, gave up his fancy officer bunk for one closer to the men. But the bedsheets smell like caf and sweat and woodsmoke, and there's a Jetii [Jedi] poem carved into the wall right where it's easy to trace over with his fingertips, and it settles Cody. Settles the buzzing under his skin.
Not so much he can sleep, of course.
He sighs, heavily, and gets out his comm.
Cody: you up?
The reply takes a couple minutes, as always, but there's no auto response. Which is good. Cody has no fucking idea what time it is on Coruscant.
Vice Chancellor Fox: it's 1106, cod'ika [little cody], the fuck you think
Cody: well bastard it's 0041 here and seeing as we're limping back to lick our wounds and we let the seppies take the planet i think im allowed to not bother working out the time difference
Vice Chancellor Fox: osik [shit]
Vice Chancellor Fox: your jetii [jedi] alright?
Cody: gaping wound in his side he made worse by ignoring and had to be sedated so he wouldn't immediately pull out all his stitches
Cody: and tano made a bad call and it's fucked her up so fucked skywalker up so fucked obi-wan up obviously. very excited for the failure of the whole campaign to become his fault somehow
Cody: oh and he fucking bonded us in the force. vos tell you they do that?
Vice Chancellor Fox: i need you to understand your jetii is an outlier and they do not all give impromptu lectures for fun
Cody: your jetii is a spy
Vice Chancellor Fox: i know that already
Vice Chancellor Fox: i don't know what the fuck being bonded in the force means
Vice Chancellor Fox: do i need to steal quin's good knives
Cody makes a delighted noise, unbidden. He doesn't touch base with Fox as often as he'd like – back on Kamino they'd rarely go a full day without talking, in a way that drove most of the trainers up the wall. Now, of course, they're at the whims of comm transmission strength, active battlefields, all the endless busywork Cody's half-convinced the Senate invents just to stop Fox stabbing anyone. So he isn't, tragically, getting the play-by-play of Fox's romance with Vos he deserves.
One of these days Fox'll admit he doodles Vos' name on his forms, and oh, Cody is going to gloat.
Cody: quin?
Vice Chancellor Fox: pretty sure you're about to tell me kenobi jetii married you, shut the fuck up
Cody: yeah but wasnt me who spent two months complaining about the cocksure bastard jetii who wouldnt take anything seriously, kept trying to ply you with gifts which was apparently greatly offensive, and also hes not even that attractive you swear
Cody: i went into this saying im gonna fuck obi-wan. and i did.
Vice Chancellor Fox: because i fucking dared you to
Cody: to do it NOW, yeah
Cody: i didnt wanna fuck up my working relationship with a man who could order my death so sue me
Cody: vos isnt even your CO youre just so fucking repressed
Vice Chancellor Fox: stop dodging already
Cody: not dodging, i brought it up
Cody: im giving you your due
Cody: as is my right as your trial run
Vice Chancellor Fox: kote [glory; cody's original name] i swear to fuck
Cody thinks about winding him up further, but it's just not as fun when Fox can't throw him against a wall.
Cody: so a force bond is a telepathic link out a shitty holodrama on steroids
Cody: yknow how theyre empaths?
Cody: i have no fucking idea how they ever kill anyone
Cody: his feelings ARE my feelings its fucking insane. and if i can concentrate i can hear his thoughts. we were touching at the time but i dont think we need to be
Cody: theres this space in my head where he is
Cody: been there a while i just didnt notice. thats the other thing tho, he did it on accident
Vice Chancellor Fox: Excuse me?
Cody: pretty sure it only works if its, yknow
Cody: mutual
Vice Chancellor Fox: You're pretty sure?
Cody: not exactly had time for a full sitrep
Cody: but he is giving one. gonna interrogate his jetii medic batchmate, too
Vice Chancellor Fox: she's got a sweet tooth
Cody: that was me giving you pertinent intel not fishing for leverage
Vice Chancellor Fox: i don't understand you
Cody: thats why you sneak around eavesdropping on senators and i punch droids, yeah
Vice Chancellor Fox: stop fucking punching the droids
Cody: no
Vice Chancellor Fox: did you just comm me to make my stress ulcers worse? was that your goal?
Cody stares at that for a long moment. He commed Fox because Obi-Wan's unconscious, Wolffe's shit at words, and Rex has his hands full with Tano. He commed Fox because he can say fucking anything to Fox, and he couldn't even collect their dead, and one of these days he is going to snap.
He's got no idea if voicing half the shit chasing itself round his head will help, but his alternative is punching a few more holes in the wall, and he has to work out if Obi-Wan'll feel that before he does it again.
Cody: well i cant spar kabu kicked me out medbay and wouldnt give me sedatives its another two days of hyperspace we lost twenty eight men for no fucking reason and left them there to boot and waxer's sat with jure cuz this was his second fucking engagement and now hes last man standing
Cody: and tano nearly fucked the extraction not wanting to give up the chase and i keep thinking i shouldve gone with her least then we wouldve fucking accomplished something and obi-wan just very casually mentioned if anything happens to skywalker he will fucking lose it
Cody: cept of course he doesnt just mean skywalker and the chances of all of us making it are so fucking slim so really that means none of us are making it we're a karking house of cards and i dont fucking trust anyone else with ghost
Cody: cuz even if the war ends sith knows the senate'll never give us citizenship and whats it even matter how many vode make it when theyll be sold to the highest bidder at best
Vice Chancellor Fox: Kote, where are you?
Cody: obi-wan's bunk
Cody: im not a fucking suicide risk. benefit of hitting full fucking codependence, if i die obi-wan will fucking follow me
Cody: i want to break something.
Vice Chancellor Fox: As all that's currently available is your own self I'm gonna veto that
Vice Chancellor Fox: Did you know Quin trained Secura?
That jars Cody out his head. Jars him into startled laughter.
Cody: are you fucking bly's riduur'buir [father in law]
Vice Chancellor Fox: More like Bly's riduur'ori'vod [older brother in law]
Cody: but also his riduur'buir
Vice Chancellor Fox: he doesn't know
Vice Chancellor Fox: knowing shit is his whole job and yet he has this blindspot where he refuses to realise secura is fucking her commander because in his head she's still an ori'cadet [teenager]
Vice Chancellor Fox: it's so fucking funny
It is. Fuck, it really, really is. Cody's sides hurt.
Cody knows, from Obi-Wan's occasional diatribes, that most civvies do not get Jetii relationship dynamics. And they don't quite match up with the be'vod'e [troopers'], sure, but Cody's not an idiot, and he's spent a lot of time with Obi-Wan and Skywalker by now.
Vos isn't Secura's buir [dad], not in any way that matters. But when he finds out she's fucking Bly, he will definitely react like her buir. And then she'll beat the shit out of him for it. Fuck, he hopes someone vids it.
Cody: wait does bly know you're fucking vos
Vice Chancellor Fox: why exactly do you think me fucking quin is common knowledge
Cody: you comm me every time you take a shit. forget you're not like that with everyone
Vice Chancellor Fox: sith fucking hells could you imagine
Vice Chancellor Fox: i would be dead ten times over
Vice Chancellor Fox: you remember opsec classes, right? i'm starting to think they were a weirdly vivid dream
Cody: i remember you breaking multiple laws to reconfigure this channel before you'd say fucking anything in it
Vice Chancellor Fox: you try and fail to explain if people are trying to kill you then you can't give out your full karking address and also the codes to your damn office to anyone who asks nicely, six separate times before midmeal, then tell me i'm being paranoid
Vice Chancellor Fox: anyway you distracted me i'm not done talking about quin
Vice Chancellor Fox: he's fucking insane. why are they all insane
Cody: no, obi-wan's batch is insane. mace and plo are bad but they're not that bad
Vice Chancellor Fox: is it age? is that it? if i make it to thirty will quin mellow out? at this rate i'm not making it to thirty
Vice Chancellor Fox: he wants to infiltrate the fucking sith
Cody closes his eyes, takes a moment. Thinks, as he often does, of baiting their Jetii into the Temple creche, never difficult, then locking and barricading all the doors. They're wily, but between Ghost and the Guard, Cody's sure they'd be outmatched. And maybe then Fox'd stop going fucking grey.
Cody: wish that surprised me
Vice Chancellor Fox: you know dooku used to be a jetii? quin wants to fake going dark and become his apprentice
Vice Chancellor Fox: except faking going dark is not actually possible and what he means is he wants to go dark enough to convince dooku he's full dark and then keep that up for however long it takes to work out who dooku answers to
Vice Chancellor Fox: even though A) the only thing stopping him actually going full dark would be sheer force of will B) he will have to actively aid the sith C) we don't even know if dooku knows who he answers to D) dooku already has a karking apprentice and she's fucking dangerous
It's a pity, that giving Fox shit for how unbelievably gone on Vos he is wouldn't go well at all right now. Maybe when they get back to Coruscant, Cody'll swing by the Guard barracks with some decent drink.
Cody: hear me out
Cody: let's go AWOL and elope
Cody: swear i wont ever put my life in active danger for very minimal gain if you wont
Vice Chancellor Fox: yeah, alright. there's still real mandos in the mandalore system somewhere, right?
Cody: did i ever mention satine kryze is obi-wan's fucking ex
Vice Chancellor Fox: No You Fucking Did Not.
Cody: the order sent him to bodyguard her when he was a padawan and she wasn't in charge yet
Cody: the pacifism is apparently a symptom of childhood battle fatigue
Cody: anyway he despises her choices obviously so their dynamic now is indescribable. somehow worse than how he is with ventress. never go dar'manda [no longer Mandalorian]
Vice Chancellor Fox: don't worry i think jango would kill me first
Vice Chancellor Fox: but we could blackmail kryze, huh?
Why does Cody like Fox so much when he's such a fucking spy.
Cody: i am not going AWOL just to get neck deep in different fucking politic osik [shit]
Vice Chancellor Fox: you don't think you'd make a good mand'alor?
Cody: oh fuck you
Cody: i know you just want me to be your figurehead and that doesn't make it less hot. i hate you
Cody doesn't have to see him to know the exact insufferable look on Fox's face right now. It's deeply aggravating that he can't punch it.
Vice Chancellor Fox: you opened with fucking kenobi and you keep changing the subject
Vice Chancellor Fox: i want to hear about fucking kenobi
Vice Chancellor Fox: i don't ask for much
Cody: asking him to spill about fucking vos was my opening gambit
Cody: rex feels smug right now and he's no idea why
Vice Chancellor Fox: no he doesn't, because it's not that we're the same person, it's that i have you very well trained
Cody: oh you do?
Vice Chancellor Fox: telling me all about it first chance you get, aren't you?
Cody: it's not fair to say that when i can't bite you
Vice Chancellor Fox: and yet here you are anyway
Vice Chancellor Fox: go on, then. where were you? in his bunk?
Cody has to take a moment again, to get his shit together. To mourn, just for a moment, that Obi-Wan isn't here. That they're doing this over comm texts, and he can't even hear the low rumble of Fox's voice.
He's definitely paying a visit to the Guard.
Cody: officer's lounge
Vice Chancellor Fox: fuck, did you get caught?
Cody: no
Vice Chancellor Fox: pity
That hadn't even occurred to Cody, little gods.
Vice Chancellor Fox: what did you do? quin's talked up his mouth an unreasonable amount
Cody: fuck, i came down his throat
Cody: he begged me for it
Vice Chancellor Fox: he begged?
Cody: you are the only person in the galaxy i roll over for and you damn well know it
Vice Chancellor Fox: oh i had no doubt he'd be on his knees for you
Vice Chancellor Fox: but quin made him out to be a brat
Cody thinks, again, of the look on Obi-Wan's face. The noises he made. Desperate, but not demanding. Happy to take whatever Cody wanted to give him. Whatever Cody decided he deserved.
Cody: im sure for vos he is
Cody: he melted for me
Cody: you should ask vos about bonds. they're useful
Vice Chancellor Fox: i'm starting to see the appeal
Cody: i can pull on it. like pulling on his hair
Cody: he likes that too
Cody: but the bond's more direct. think i could get him to come untouched, like that
Vice Chancellor Fox: fuck i'd like to see that
Cody: i'll vid it
Vice Chancellor Fox: shabuir [asshole]
Vice Chancellor Fox: wish i could hit you for that
Cody: yeah?
Vice Chancellor Fox: tie you up first. quin got me a flogger.
Fucking hells.
Cody: ah
Vice Chancellor Fox: yeah, thought you'd like that
Vice Chancellor Fox: your hand on your cock yet?
Cody: mean
Cody: how'd you expect me to think now
Vice Chancellor Fox: because i'm asking you to, cod'ika
It's infuriating, how quick Fox can get his blood up. Especially like this, just words on a screen. Kark, he is well-trained.
He's still wearing half his damn armour. He gets just enough out the way he can get a hand in his blacks, and it makes him think of Obi-Wan undoing it all without even a flourish of his fingers, like it's easy. Like he could do it anytime.
It takes him longer to type, now he's doing it one-handed.
Cody: fuck
Cody: he got my armour off with the force, fox
Cody: i didnt even know how hot that was till he did it
Vice Chancellor Fox: oh that is hot
Vice Chancellor Fox: easy access, huh?
Vice Chancellor Fox: i'd like that. get my hands on you whenever i want, wherever i want
Vice Chancellor Fox: you're thinking about coming by, aren't you?
Vice Chancellor Fox: you've got leave. you could spend the day. you'd fit under my desk so nicely
Vice Chancellor Fox: not that we're talking about me. keep going, then. what else did he beg for?
It takes him a moment to remember how to think.
It's not the first time they've done this – even when they're in the same room, Fox likes to talk, likes to sit there and make Cody do all the work while he watches. They've been fucking too long. Fox knows all of Cody's buttons, likes pushing all of them at once. Somehow, it still catches Cody off-guard.
Cody: wanted me to choke him
Cody: bond's a direct fucking line into his fantasies
Cody: had him in my lap. he kept thinking about rubbing off on my leg
Cody: and me marking him up
Vice Chancellor Fox: damn, cod'ika, did you wish very hard?
Vice Chancellor Fox: need to tell him to bite back, though
Vice Chancellor Fox: can't be walking round with just my teeth in you, now. that's not fair
Cody pushes, briefly, at the scar on his hip, wishes it still ached to the touch. Obi-Wan didn't notice it – it doesn't look quite like a bite any more, since Cody wasn't quite full grown when Fox finally dug his teeth in deep enough to draw blood. The first time Fox drew his blood at all.
He thinks, suddenly, of the way Obi-Wan's orgasm ran back down the bond. How he could feel, almost, the weight of his own cock in Obi-Wan's mouth. How he might, maybe, taste his own blood, too.
Cody: close
Cody: fuck, vod'uur [trooper romantic endearment]
Vice Chancellor Fox: yeah? gonna come all over yourself for me?
Vice Chancellor Fox: maybe i won't let you clean up
Vice Chancellor Fox: that'd be a nice surprise for kenobi, wouldn't it, if he knows from the first sight of you what you were doing with me
Vice Chancellor Fox: what you were doing in his bunk
Cody: fox
Vice Chancellor Fox: that's it, cyare
Vice Chancellor Fox: gonna ruin you later. gonna make you cry.
Vice Chancellor Fox: and right now you're going to come just from thinking about it, just because i told you to
Cody loses his grip on the comm. Can't keep his eyes open, shaking, feeling it in his toes. He can hear the words, Fox's voice low and pleased and possessive, and he thinks of what it might be like if Obi-Wan was here, if both of them were here, talking to him, and that's what shoves him over the edge. He has to bite at his knuckles to keep quiet.
Cody: fuck
Vice Chancellor Fox: good boy
Kriffing hells.
Vice Chancellor Fox: cancelled a meeting for that, hope you're happy
Cody: wait. for real?
Vice Chancellor Fox: well i assume it still happened but i sent thorn
Cody: i am gonna fucking
Cody: eat you
Vice Chancellor Fox: love you too
Vice Chancellor Fox: quin's likely turning up soon to pretend his timing is a complete coincidence and also he was just in the neighbourhood but hey while he's here do i want to get midmeal
Vice Chancellor Fox: you good? or am i telling him to go kark himself?
Fox has a reputation, somehow, for being a cold and uncaring bastard. Cody has never once understood it. Sure, yeah, Fox cultivates it intentionally, but he's transparent as shit.
Cody: im gonna pass the fuck out
Cody: thanks
Vice Chancellor Fox: anytime, vod'uur
Cody drops his comm on the shelf above the headboard, where Obi-Wan's inexplicable collection of rocks lives. He isn't, actually, going to pass out immediately, because he hasn't written the AAR yet and he has neuroses, but sleeping at all seems possible now, in a way it didn't an hour ago.
He can spend tomorrow in the medbay, sitting on top of Obi-Wan if needs must. And when they get back to Coruscant, he'll run damage control on Tano, get all the Jetii to spend time in the garden room and the crèche both, see if he can have his conversation with Bant over an actual meal. Sleep in the Temple with Obi-Wan, in a bed that cost more than twenty credits. And sic Thorn on Fox's schedule, get him an actual evening off.
Yeah. Yeah, okay, that's manageable. That gets the anger to actually, finally fade. And he didn't even need to punch anything.