Binary Sunset | SW Oneshots

Di'kute (Idiots)

i meant to publish this last week on 2/12, but deadlines and i just don't get along very well

anyways, here's some more codywan because i haven't written codywan in a while and this idea has been in my brain for roughly 6 months (and i've finally decided to write it, using up the last little sliver of oneshot material in my pathetic little brain, so forgive me if anything that comes out after this is just generally not good)

also, consider this the grown up version of "Rumors Only Grow"

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During battle, Cody was always grateful to have his vode and his Jedi by his side. He could trust them in the heat of the war, in the midst of the fight. When he fought by General Kenobi's side - when blasterfire met blade, or red met blue - Cody knew he had Obi-Wan's back, too, always ready. With his men and his General, they worked together, as a team; More than just a battalion, with Cody leading by his Jedi's side. 

And at an hour like this, he was especially grateful to have General Kenobi at his side, or else he wasn't sure he'd have been able to survive the regular 12 hours of desk work that came with being the commanders of the 212th, 7th Sky Corps, the entire Third Systems Army, and the personal caretakers of the 501st battalion.

If there was one reason Cody enjoyed doing the work with Obi-Wan, it was because he was free to complain all he wanted. Although most of the time they worked in pleasant silence (aside from the hum of the diner around them, which hardly bothered either of them), occasionally one of them would look up from their datapad and voice something absurd.

For instance, "It says here on the medical logs that Kix ordered 37 medpacks earlier. The 501st hasn't even been involved in any battles in the last, what, 2 weeks? They've just been docked on Coruscant. Yet somehow, most of these reports are still about them." Cody took a long sip of his caf. "Sir, do you have any idea what's going on over there?"

"Not a clue," Obi-Wan said, absently holding a cup of caf in one hand. He tapped something on his holopad before looking up. "37 medpacks? Does the request include the circumstances?"

Cody scrolled through Kix's request. At the bottom, where the options for circumstances were either 'Urgent' or 'Other...', Kix had written 'Stuff.' He slid his datapad across the table. "What do you wanna bet that the only reason they did that was because they know full well we go through the orders?"

"That seems very likely. It probably wasn't even Kix," Obi-Wan set his caf cup down and rested his head on his palm. "Probably one of those newly ARCed – Fives and Echo?"

Cody sighed as he pulled his datapad back. He picked up his pen from where it was just about to roll off the table, scribbled a signature on the bottom of the order form, and approved the request. "That sounds about right."

Just then, a waiter appeared at the edge of their table with more caf. They both thanked her as she filled their cups to the brim. Then, she rolled off.

Another reason Cody enjoyed working with Obi-Wan: He knew the best places to go. Like here, Dex's Diner, where they had gone the last 5 times they'd had this much work. Obi-Wan was close friends with the owner, Dexter Jettster, which was both funny to see (the first thing Dex did whenever they walked in was give him an uncomfortable-looking hug, which Cody always snickered at behind his visor) and very useful. It meant that they didn't have to pay for anything. Not a single caf refill, which the waiter droid brought by regularly, nothing. No one seemed to mind that they'd been there for roughly 8 hours, either.

Another hour seemed to have passed when Cody's comm buzzed. He sighed, setting down his pen, and answered it. "Yes?"

"Heyyyy, Commander. The boys and I are at 79's. Would you mind... uhhhhhhhh..."

Cody groaned, to Obi-Wan's amusement. Then, he rolled his eyes, as if his previous display of impatience hadn't been enough. He spoke into his comm again. "Would I mind what, Fives?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..."

"Would you mind picking us up?" A different voice said. As far as Cody knew, Fives was still mumbling incoherently in the background. It just melted in with the rest of the clamor.

To be honest, he was glad to hear someone else there with Fives – Especially Echo. He seemed somewhat responsible. That didn't mean he would take their request any more seriously, though. Not unless he had to.

Cody snorted and muttered to himself, "What am I, your babysitter?" Then, he said to Echo (and Fives, who he was only kind of hoping was still there), "Can't you call Rex instead?"

"He's here too."

Echo's confession was punctuated by a cheerful yell of "Hey, Cody!", right into the comm.

"What the kriff-" He glanced up at Obi-Wan, who watched him intently, his mouth hidden behind steepled fingers. "I mean, heck. Rex, what the hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

Cody sighed again and wiped his hand over his face. Rex is drunk. We are in the end times. It's over. He decided that he'd be speaking solely to the most sober one there for the rest of this conversation. "Echo, is Kix there?"

"Uhh, no. Well, yes, but, he's... I don't think he can drive."

"Is that why he ordered 37 medpacks?"

"Oh, you saw that already? No, that was before we were here." He sounded so unbothered, Cody was starting to doubt his sobriety. And the more he talked to people who didn't meet the criteria for being able to fly, the sooner he was to be one of them.

"For the love of- Echo?"

"Yes?"

"Walk home."

Cody terminated the comm and slammed it down on the table. He rubbed his temples and muttered something. Obi-Wan's attention was back on his datapad, though he still seemed present there, listening to him, which made Cody think.

And Cody thought, long and hard. After mulling over the possibilities of letting them walk home, he'd decided that he could do one of two things: Let them somehow find their way back to the cruiser, drunk. Or, he could go and pick them up in the speeder he and Obi-Wan had parked just outside. He could also call a taxi for them, or leave them to stay in the bar until the next morning, but neither of those sounded like very good options.

Finally, Cody sighed and looked up at Obi-Wan. He muttered, "You know, I'm starting to think that we are just their glorified babysitters."

"Does that mean you've changed your mind, dear Commander?" Obi-Wan looked up at him as he lifted his caf to his mouth.

Cody sighed for at least the fifth time. He finally said, "Yeah. And you're coming with me."

Obi-Wan grinned over the rim of his caf cup. "Good, I was hoping you'd invite me. I'll ask Dex to save our table until we get back."

Cody nodded, stood, and grabbed his helmet off the table. He couldn't go see Rex and the others without his helmet at least sitting on his lap, it made him more... dignified. He picked up his comm and raised Fives again. Echo answered.

"...Yes, Commander?"

With as much resolve as he could muster, he said, "I changed my mind. We're coming to pick you up."

"'We', sir?" Cody could hear the suggestive smirk on his voice, even over the comm. He rolled his eyes, knowing full well the only people who could see it were the other people in the diner, who there were few of. Most of them didn't seem to care, anyways. He hadn't noticed it before, but it was... well, it was pretty late. Only getting later. 

"You seem to forget that I could un-ARC you, right now," Cody murmured, holding the comm unit close as he spoke.

"Oh, yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Good," Cody allowed himself a small smile, "And yes, you're correct. I am with General Kenobi."

"Called it!" Someone on the other comm said in the background. Someone else called them an idiot. Someone else started laughing. Cody turned off the comm and shook his head to himself. He couldn't be mad, though. He was proud to be at his Jedi's side.