#the last batch of comms should be done by next week if everything goes well C:

[nickkkdoesstuff]

ill be out for the weekend :P so dear commissioners, im still working on your orders, work has been taking up most of my time but progress has been made 🫡💕 i appreciate your patience and ill be back on you as soon as possible

[galaxymysteryelephant]

Friends Don’t

****For @mysticperfectionbird****

There were so many better things that I could be doing tonight, like going to 79s with Torrent Company. But there were reports that needed to be done before the official start of our furlough. A soldier’s work is never finished.  

I am sitting at my desk, slowly getting through my reports, when a knock on the door interrupts me. “Who is it?” I ask, thinking it is Fives about ready to drag me to the bar with him and the rest of Torrent.

“Rex,” says a strained voice, “it is Cody. Can I come in?”

I am striding across my room and opening the door before I can even answer. And I take in Cody’s appearance: he is only wearing his blacks, which are soaked in sweat. He looks stressed and tired. “Come on in,” I answer.

Cody looks at me and then looks over my shoulder, a frown forming on his face when he sees the stack on my desk. “I can come back another time,” he starts.

“No,” I say placing a gentle hand on his shoulders, keeping him in place. “It is alright. I can catch up on my paper work another time.”

“No,” Cody says, “I can come by when you are not busy.”

“Cody, the reports can wait,” I allow him entrance into my room and clear a spot off for Cody to sit. “Make yourself comfortable. What is on your mind, Cody?”

Cody sits on my bed and pats the spot next to him, indicating for me to join him. And without further words, both of us allow ourselves to lie on the small bed.

His eyes meet mine while he shrugs. “I-I,” Cody takes a moment to clear his throat, “I had a rough day, and I needed to see you.”

“I know what you mean,” I whisper as I run my fingers through the curly locks of his hair, thinking about the simpler times we shared together – the days when we would curl up in one of our bunks and talk about the day, when we would fall asleep listening to the other breath, when we did not have to worry about the other dying on a battlefield. “And I am glad you came,” I say as I breath in the smell of his hair.

“Really” he asks, “even though I ruined your plans?”

I look down at Cody and let out a small chuckle, “You could never ruin my plans,” I say. “And I don’t think doing reports counts as great plans for the evening.” I look at Cody softly, “But you gave me a reason not to work, to take a much needed break.” Cody gives me a pleased look, “You can stay here as long as you want.”

Cody snuggles closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I smile because there are only so few people that Cody would let himself be this vulnerable around and I am fortunate enough to be one of them.

“What happened today,” I ask hesitantly.

“I just got back from a tough mission; we lost a lot of men.” Cody’s hands play with the hem of my shirt. “I tried to get some sleep in my room but all I could see were my brothers dying around me. And I couldn’t stand to be alone; I needed to come some place safe. So, I came here.”

I smile into Cody’s hair. “I am glad you came to me.”

We settle into a comfortable silence, occasionally only looking at each other to reassure ourselves that other was there.

“You can rest, Cody,” I say after a while. “I will watch over you.” As if waiting for me to verbalize the words, Cody rests his head on my shoulders, breaths in my scent and falls asleep.

***

“Rex, I am so glad you could join us,” Skywalker says when I enter the room. “Now we just need to wait for Obi-Wan and Cody to get here.”

At the mention of Cody’s name my thoughts travel to our cuddle session a couple weeks ago. Cody and I had cuddled numerous times as cadets, but this time after cuddling him, I felt different. And I couldn’t place the word to how I was feeling.

Ahsoka is standing in front of me, her hand waving in front of my face, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Hey Rex,” she says when she has my attention. A look of concern crosses her face, “Is everything alright? You seem distressed, confused, distracted.”

I nod simply, returning my focus to the task at hand. I look at the holo-map in front of me and recall the plans for the mission.

“Are you sure? You seemed fine when you first walked in here and it was at the mention of,” out of the corner of my eye I see Ahsoka put her hand to her chin, “Obi-Wan.” She looks at me a moment, assessing my feelings. “If not him, then those feelings are associated with Cody.” She pauses to assess my feelings. “What is going on between, you and Cody?”

Once again, that does it; all thoughts about the mission leave my head, all of them settling on Cody.

I see the handsome features of his face in my mind’s eye – ebony curly locks, his amber brown eyes, the sexy scar around his left eye, his sharp cheekbones and jawline, to his plump and kissable lips. Wait what?  Handsome features? And when did I start thinking he has kissable lips?

Cody is my friend, why am I thinking about him like this?

I force my thoughts to change from his appearance, wondering how he is doing. Is he doing alright? Was he injured during his last campaign? Is he making sure he is he getting enough sleep? Is he eating enough?

I do not know if anything is spoken to me until the one person on my mind walks into the room. “Rex,” my name is spoken so softly on his lips.

“Cody,” I repeat just as softly. The distance between us becomes smaller and smaller as we bring each other into a quick hug.

“It is good to see you, Rex.” He looks me up and down, trying to assess me for injury.

“It is good to see you too Codes,” I repeat. “I mi-

“Ahem,” I am interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. And it is then I realize the generals and commander are in the room watching us. “While I hate to break up this reunion, it is going to need to wait until after. We have a very important mission ahead of us,” Kenobi states.

Cody and I separate. I silently yell at myself for getting so caught up that I let my personal relationship get in the way of our professional one. General Kenobi is right, personal matters can wait until after the briefing and/or the mission.

We stand next to our respective generals and the room becomes professional again as Skywalker relays the plan.

***

A handful of rotations have passed since the conclusion of our last mission. The 501st was dragged away before Cody and I could talk, much to my disappointment there were so many things that I wanted to talk to Cody about. But I guess it was for the best, I should sort out my feelings for him before then.

It is late in the night and I am working on reports when my comm goes off. “Who could be calling me at this hour,” I ask to my empty room. I retrieve my comm, hoping it wasn’t the general. “Captain Rex,” I answer.

“Hey Rex, it is Cody.”

“Hey,” I answer, all professionalism leaving my tone, replaced instead with a friendly tone. I press a button so that his hologram appears in front of me. “Is something wrong?” I ask, now worried about him, but from what I can see, he looks to be in good health.

“No, I am fine.” He runs a hand through his hair and looks off in the distance. “I just wanted to say hi and check in on you.”

“I am doing alright, Codes.”

He smiles and meets my gaze, “You look tired.”

I nod, “I have been working on these reports for Skywalker. But I am so thankful for your welcome distraction.” I take a seat on my bed, placing the comm on my pillow.

“Do you have time to talk, Rex?”

“For you, Cody, I can make the time,” I chuckle.

“I don’t know if you saw but the 212th was ambushed recently. And before you start freaking out, we are all doing fine, and those of us that were injured will be alright soon enough.” I do not know what my face looks like, probably horrified. “I promise I am alright Rex; I was fortunate enough not to sustain any injuries,” he reassures.

I nod, feeling the tension in my shoulders relaxing. I could have lost my best friend today. And the worst thing about it is that I do not even know if I should tell him I think of him as more than a friend.

“Sometimes I miss the simplicity of our life as cadets. I mean at least then I was sure of things,” I say after a while.

“Like what,” he asks.

“When I was sure that I wouldn’t have to watch brothers die, when I was sure I would get a good night sleep, when I was sure that I would see you every day.”

It is hard to tell through the hologram, but I think Cody blushing. “I miss it too,” he says simply. “And I miss you,” he adds.

“I miss you too.”

For two hours we reminisce about our cadet days, the days when we were constantly by each other’s sides. Then both of us start to grow tired, but neither one of us wants to end the call, so we stay on.

When his breathing evens out, I know he is asleep. “Good night Cody,” I whisper as I settle into bed next to my comm and I let Cody’s deep even breaths lull me to sleep.

***

“So, the guys have been saying that you and Commander Cody are getting closer to each other. Is there any truth to that?” Ahsoka asks me. We just finished our training session and are sitting against the wall trying to catch our breaths.

“Cody and I are just friends,” I answer.

“With all due respect Rex, friends don’t do what you and Cody do,” she says as she nudges me.

“And what is it that Cody and I do that friends don’t?” I ask.

“Well the vod have been telling me a lot, I don’t know how much of it is true though. Fives says when you and Cody are on leave at the same time, you are constantly together and even caught leaving each other’s rooms.” She looks at me waiting for my response.

“Cody and I have been close since we were young; we were in the same batch for Force sake. We grew up relying on each other, and that is not something that just goes away.” I take a sip of water before continuing. “Our relationship has and always will be strong. We seek each other out when comfort is needed, when we just need someone to listen, when we need advice. Cody’s always been there for me, it is not something I can say about other vod. And I know Cody will always be there for me. And I will always be there for him, he knows that.”

“Sounds like you guys have a deep relationship,” Ahsoka comments.

“We do. We like to spend time together whether it is catching up or making sure that the other is alright.” I take another sip of water, “Is there something wrong with enjoying each other’s company?”

“No,” Ahsoka answers. “But can you explain all the late night comm calls with him.”

“How do you know I have been talking to him at night?” I ask.

“I heard that you were becoming inaccessible at night, so I looked into it. I noticed a peak in your data usage, specifically in the amount of comm calls you were receiving and sending. The peak was at night, and the comm frequency belongs to Cody.” Ahsoka elbows my rib, “Also, you just confirmed it,” she says as she laughs.

“Oh,” I whisper.

“Did you know you talk about him a lot?” I shake my head and she chuckles. “Well you do. And according to Master Kenobi, Cody talks about you a lot too.” A group of men walk into the room, Ahsoka and I rise to our feet. “I am not saying you need to tell me anything, I just want you to think on it.”

***

Many months have passed since my conversation with Ahsoka and I have come to terms with my feelings for Cody. He means a lot to me, more than anyone ever has. He is more than a brother to me, and I need to tell him.

Tonight would be the perfect opportunity; our batchmates are all meeting up at 79s. We all haven’t seen each other in a long time, so we will all be catching up with one another.

I will be honest; I did put a lot more effort into my look knowing that Cody was going to be there. I wore a blue t-shirt with jeans and black boots. My blonde hair freshly buzzed, after two weeks on campaign, my hair had become unruly.

When I know I look presentable enough, I make my way to the bar.

At the bar, I find my batchmates in the back. Cody spots me first and stands. He smiles at me when I bring him into a hug. One of his hands goes around my neck, holding me there. I feel sparks travel through my skin, like my nerves are on fire. When we pull apart, Cody lets out a small nervous laugh.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Wolffe roll his eyes and Bly whisper something to Ponds, who laughs loudly.

“Well, I need a drink,” Wolffe says, “I’ll get a round for everyone.”

“Take a seat Rex,” Bly states indicating the vacant one next to him.

There is a soft pressure on my wrist, I look to see that Cody’s hand wrapped around it gently – there are sparks traveling through my skin at the contact. His eyes are asking, “Sit next to me. I haven’t seen you in a while and I want to make sure that you are alright.”

Without needing to think, I take a seat next to Cody, giving him a reassuring smile as he lets go of my wrist.

I see disappointment cross Bly’s features when I take my seat, Ponds elbows him in the ribs and whispers something in his ear.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Bly says.

“I know I am,” Ponds retorts.

Cody and I are trying to figure out what was said when Wolffe clears his throat as he places glasses in front of us. “Drink up, bitches,” he says.

I do not know if it is because I am nervous or because Cody is next to me, probably a bit of both, but I take a big gulp of the whiskey in front of me. The others are carefully nursing their whiskey, savoring it. I take another long sip, hoping it will settle my nerves.

Wolffe laughs, “Looks like the next round is on Rex.”

I wave to the bartender to signal another round of drinks, he nods. “How have you guys been?” I ask my batchers. My hands are on the table, for lack of a better place.

I try to listen as they answer but Cody’s hand accidentally touches mine when he goes to get his glass. It sends chills to my spine, and it takes a lot of willpower for me to keep from shivering.

The waitress brings the second round of drinks to the table. I drink this one slower as we talk about the missions we have been on.

About an hour has passed and I am slightly intoxicated. If you asked my batchers they would say I was drunk, but I know better than them. Their telltale sign that I am drunk, or on my way to it, is that my Jango comes through – some brothers can make themselves sound like Jango on command, but not me, apparently it only comes out when I drink (and Wolffe speculates when I am horny, “Your sex-voice is probably like Jango as well,” he laughs).  

My head is getting to be too heavy, so I rest it on Cody’s shoulder. Cody wraps his arm around my shoulder. “I got you, Rex’ika,” he whispers in my ear. The sound of his voice in my ear makes me shiver.

“Cody,” his name slips from my mouth, “I-I love,” I stop myself before I can say more. I know my original plan was to tell him how I feel about him, but not like this. I would not tell Cody when I was intoxicated, even if only a little.

“You love what?” he asks.

I motion to him then to Wolffe, Bly and Ponds. “All of you,” I manage to say. “You’re the best brothers anyone could ask for.”

Cody lets out a small sigh. “I am going to take the drunken ass home,” Cody says to our batchers. “I will see you guys later.” Cody places his hand around my waist, placing mine around his neck. “Let’s get you home.”

I wasn’t so drunk that Cody needed to hold me the way he was, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. There was something about being this close to Cody that felt right.

The walk back to the barracks is over much too soon. Cody stops us in front of my door and hesitates; I could tell he didn’t want to leave me. And I didn’t want him to go either.

I wrap my arm around Cody’s shoulders again and begin to move us towards the mess. “Cody, can we get a cup of caf?” I ask.

“I would love to Rex,” Cody begins, “but we both have a long day tomorrow. Maybe it is best if you turn in for the evening.”

I simply nod to Cody, “Yeah your right,” I say trying to keep my tone normal. I am hurt, and I hope it doesn’t show on my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say as I enter the code to open my door and walk in. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You can count on it,” Cody sa0sy with a smile on his face. “Good night Rex.”

“Night Codes,” I say. I watch Cody walk away before closing my door. Well tonight did not go how I planned.

***

The next morning as the events of the prior evening hit me, I hate myself. Did I really brother-zone him. Being in the friend-zone sucked, I can only imagine what the brother-zone feels like. “You are so stupid, Rex,” I tell myself as I get ready for the day. I have a briefing to attend with Cody and the generals.

I head to the briefing room, hoping Cody would be there when I arrived. And sure enough he was.

“Morning, Cody,” I say as I enter the room.

“Hey Rex,” he responds.

“Cody,” I call his name softly waiting for him to look at me. And when he does I see hurt in his eyes. “I wanted to apologize for last night.”

Cody tries to shake it off like it was nothing. “Someone needed to get you home, but it is no reason to apologize.”

“What?” I ask.

“You were apologizing for inconveniencing  me last night. I can assure you it is no big deal. You do not know how many times I have dragged Wolffe’s drunken ass home.”

I let out a small laugh. “I wasn’t apologizing for that.”

“Well then, what were you apologizing for?”

My gaze travels around the room before landing back on his. “For what I said at the bar,” I know I need to elaborate when I see his confused expression. “When I said “I love all of you; you’re the best brothers anyone can ask for.’”

“So you don’t?”

“No, that is not what I meant.” At some point my gaze faltered, but I force myself to maintain eye contact with Cody. “What I said was true, for the most part.” Before Cody can interrupt me I hold up my hand. “But the way I feel about you is different, it is a different kind of love. I am in love with you Cody. I don’t know when it happened but I am glad it did.”

A smile graces Cody’s face, “I am in love with you Rex.” He takes a breath, “I was scared to tell you because I didn’t want to ruin what we had. And I was hurt last night when you said that but I forgive you.”

“I am glad, cyare,” I say as I close the distance between us. I press our foreheads together and snake my arms around his waist. “I love you so much, Cody.”

“I love you too, di’kut.”

Cody places his hands on my cheeks and closes the gap between us until our lips meet. It is a chaste kiss, a kiss that leaves me wanting more. When he pulls apart, he rests his forehead against mine.

“I have waited so long to kiss you,” he says.

I close the gap between us again. He snakes his arms around my neck to deepen the kiss. My arms around his waist tighten bringing his armored body flush against mine. The kiss quickly becomes heated, our tongues dancing in each other’s mouths. After some time we pull apart for some much needed air.

“Finally,” we hear someone say. Cody and I look to the entrance of the room and see Ahsoka and Kenobi smiling at each of us.

“It is about time,” Kenobi says as he crosses the room. “I trust that this makes you each other’s cyare now.” Cody and I both nod. Kenobi smiles at us. “I am truly happy for the two of you.”

“Me too,” Ahsoka says, skipping into the room.

I rest my head against Cody’s and push against his forehead, he pushes back. “I love you, Cody,” I whisper.

“I love you too, Rex. Darasuum,” he whispers back.

“Darasuum,” I repeat softly.

 Mando’a translations:

vod: brother

cyare: beloved

di’kut: idiot

darasuum: eternal/forever