Dear @loving-the-cambridges - I'm so sorry that your gift is late! It got away from me in the planning stages, but here's a teaser, and I'll update with a link to AO3 as soon as it's posted with the rest (it got so long )
I chose 'Favorite flowers' -- it's hard to tell in this exerpt orz
Obi-wan’s vambrace comm crackles to life at the same time that Cody’s head lifts up.
“Report,” Cody says.
“Command, this is Davijaan. Recon squad has finished our second search pattern. Still no sight of the target. Should we fly a third?”
Cody’s helmet tips toward him. “General?”
“…The report did say that the comms array might be camouflaged in the canyon.” He says it like a riddle, turning the words over as he speaks as if they were the same as the stones and chips of loose scree around them.
“It’s got to have something above-ground, or it wouldn’t be much of a comms array,” Cody points out.
Obi-wan scans what is visible of the skyline.
They’re marching down a lip of one of the canyons that breaks through the dry land of this remote moon– a precarious jut of rock that can fit four men side by side, barely. When they first descended into the canyon, the path could support six abreast, and an AT-TE well in the rear. But the TE had been forced to climb back to the top of the rock walls an hour back, and ahead Obi-wan can see the path continuing to narrow….
Thin columns of glinting rock rise up from the ravine floor far below, knobby insets of harder rock supported by thin necks of the limestone. They look like ornaments. Or spikes at the bottom of a trap.
A scan should reveal a camouflaged comms array among them– should, and yet their intel suggested that the rocks had a way of baffling scanners.
And yet, this mysterious resource didn’t stifle the communications array?
He reaches out to the Force, and finds only unease and a sense of imbalance. Something is wrong, but something has been wrong since this war began. The Cosmic Force is vast, and so is its warning. It’s warning him of something larger than this one moon, this one speck in the void– it calls his attention out, out further than he can perceive, a divide between his mind and the body that is marching, hot, exhausted.
The moon feels like a dozen other dry battlefields, and he knows it is a distinct and thriving place but the sunlight through its atmosphere seems artificial and the richly colored layers of clay and stone feel flat. Plantlife clings to the canyon walls, stubby waxy vines and rockplants with defiantly bright colors that must attract the insects that drone past his ears, but all of it is half-real.
Even this seemingly barren landscape is rich in the Living Force– he knows that, but he can barely feel it.
Perhaps it is a small blessing, that he connects so much more easily to the one aspect of the Force than the other. Perhaps it is why he functions better in a warzone than so many of his contemporaries who are more in tune with the Living Force and the way war bends and distorts it.
“General?”
He jerks back to himself. “Your call, Commander.”
“Any bad feelings?”
“Unease. Something on the tip of my tongue…” he shoots a wry look sideways. “Nothing actionable.”
“I’ve learned to stop asking that,” his commander says wryly. He glances around and leads Obi-wan a few strides ahead out of casual earshot.
“Do you think there’s actually a secret Seppy comms station on this rock?” Cody pitches his voice down, low and soft through his vocoder. He’s become bolder about questioning the quality of their intel, but he’s too good a soldier to do it where his troops can hear.
“No,” Obi-wan sighs. “No, but I have no proof that it’s not. No justification to deny a priority order based on official intel.”
“Understood.” There’s an edge of irony that rings true through the helmet’s vocoder. It’s gone when Cody speaks again, back straightened and head tilted ever so slightly in the manner he uses to indicate to Obi-wan that he’s speaking on his helmet comms. “Davijaan, come in.”
“Sir?” says Obi-wan’s vambrace.
“Fly a third, and expand the perimeter by ten kilometres. Run a full topographical scan over the EM sensors. Keep an eye inward, but don’t look like it.”
“Yes sir,” Davijaan says. Looking again to the skyline, Obi-wan can just see a glint of what must be the survey shuttle turning above them.
“Speaking of official intel,” Cody says, that touch of irony back to his voice, “I note that the planetary scans were taken before this ridge started shedding material. We’re going to have a bit of a detour ahead.”
“Yes. I don’t like our options. I think this route will only get narrower, but the bottom of the ravine is an ideal ambush point.”
“Suggestion, sir?”
“Always, my dear.”
“Let’s call an early halt; we’ve got a little shade now, and the men could use a refuel. I’d like to send a couple troopers ahead under full stealth to do a recce on both paths, and re-establish our maps based on Davijaan’s scans.”
“We’re quite exposed here, Commander.” Obi-wan prods the Force again. …it feels less tight with unease now. “But… perhaps it will do. Yes, this will do.”
Cody is watching him intently. The dark visor may obscure his eyes but Obi-wan can feel his focus. His troopers are a constant in the haze of this war, alive and solid, and Cody is the brightest in a sea of bright lights.
“Something on your mind?”
“Well, sir. Let’s say I’ve got a good feeling.”
Cody steps back towards the men, relaying the orders, and morale rises like a river in the rain. Even without the Force, Obi-wan thinks he would feel it– could see it in the way that weary shoulders lift, and the smiles on the troops’ faces as buckets come off and ration packs start to come out.
He busies himself setting up the portable holoprojector. Hurry, from Engineering, sees him struggling with the one fussy tripod leg and trots over to offer his wordless support. Obi-wan smiles his relief at him as he holds the rig steady so that Obi-wan can straighten the reluctant joint, and is rewarded with an answering smile back. He’s so glad that they’ve all found the comfort to step outside the expectations trained into them of perfect soldiers every waking minute. That they are willing to include him into these moments of open camaraderie…
It is perhaps the only constant source of peace for him, anymore, however undeserved when he may be leading them to their deaths. They understand what happens in war. They forgive with the ease of trained Exploracorps Jedi teams, with more grace than the combatants Obi-wan has had to fight beside in his life before.
Cody has pulled two of the ARF teams into conference a few meters away from the rest. Waxer and Boil are putting away a ration-bar apiece between words, with practiced efficiency– Cato is standing a little too straight, still, in his new armor, and Ajax is all but bouncing on his toes with eagerness to get to it. It will be Ajax and Cato’s first solo mission as an ARF team since their return from training. Obi-wan spares a plea to the Force that it be an uneventful one. Let them be disappointed in their need for action, let them be bored-- they will have their fill of danger before the war is all over.
Beside him, he sees Hurry signal for Cato’s attention: when he has it, he straightens up and puts his chin in the air, striking a somewhat heroic pose. Cato glares daggers at him– for the moment before his Commander draws his attention again and he pulls himself together with desperate poise.
“Gentlemen– I have the updated planetary scans ready,” Obi-wan calls, beckoning them over.
Hurry starts back to the cluster of Engineers with his trademark speed, but Cody catches him with a word.
“Eat fast, trooper. I’m going to want descent guides for our walkers set up at that decline over there.”
To his credit, Hurry doesn’t flinch at being directly addressed. He tracks the eyeline that Cody carves out of the air with two fingers, squinting down at the terrain in question.
“All the way to the bottom of the ravine, sir? We’ll need to double-back to get our equipment. We left it about half a klick back… and we’ll need to reinforce the ridge as a transition point if we don’t want everyone and everything on the bottom of the ravine, too.”
“Then you’d better eat faster.”
“Yessir!”
Cody passes him a ration-bar as they’re mapping the scouting path, and pushes two more onto Ajax and Cato– “You’ll want them before you’re done, take them–” and then finger-skates a route over the new topography. He doesn’t use the tracing feature on the holoprojector, pointing to landmarks on the display instead. Obi-wan is far from scoffing at the caution.
Perhaps at the beginning of things he would have said it smacked of paranoia not to leave a digital record.
This has been… a very characteristic mission. They were given a simple objective, a rather over-specified plan of attack that required the objective being where the initial surveys placed it– and implied that if the 212th were as competent as their reputation, it should be an easy victory like so many disastrous missions before.
There is no objective here, may never have been, and they are operating on an unknown agenda. GAR command is not immune to the Senate funding committee’s whims, and the funding committee is… full of politicians.
What mining magnate might have wanted this moon and its useful mineral deposit under Republic control? Who might have needed attention in this system instead of another nearby? How petty is the reason his men have been set to thankless march, maybe to death if there are Separatist forces here? Who has been given access to their reports, their tactics?
No, there does not need to be a record of these small details.
Cato and Ajax opt to rappel down the cliff instead of taking the decline ahead– Boil and Waxer stroll ahead along the lip and vanish in the broken colors of the rock walls.
Obi-wan watches them both along until they are out of sight, and then sits against the rock wall to make an attempt at meditation. He can calm his body, his mind, but the Force is still hazy, distant from him. At least it’s a rest, and though he finds no guidance the Force does provide the strength to bear him up, to ease the ache in his feet and the dull pounding of his head that the heat and hours of direct sun brought on.
Cody holds the men back until they can see the Engineering corps starting work, AT-RTs repurposed for draft work bustling around at the top of the cliff.
He comes to to stand by Obi-wan, companionably, comming the survey team again; “All right, boys, if it’s all clear come set down by the Engineering Corps, lend a hand.” He clicks his back teeth twice, jaw pulsing, and casually adds: “You can power down; doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing action.”
Obi-wan pushes himself to his feet. “…Commander, that looked for all the world like a helmet control action.”
“Did it, sir?”
“Coincidence, certainly. Out of curiosity, which one?”
“Mute, sir.”
…hmm. Which might well mean disregard the orders following.
“Has anyone told you you’re untrusting?”
“Alpha-17 did, once.”
“I daresay he meant it as a compliment.”
“He did.” Cody gives him a tiny smile, a roguish little twist of his lips that’s there and gone.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/CT-7567 | Rex, Mer CC-2224 | Cody/Mer CT-7567 | Rex
Characters: CC-2224 | Cody, CT-7567 | Rex, Clone Trooper Howzer (Star Wars), CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo
Additional Tags: MerMay 2024, MerMay, Mermen, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Cloneshipping | Clone Trooper/Clone Trooper Relationships (Star Wars), Codex (CodyRex), Clone Rebel Era, change, True Love, Part of Series
Series: Part 18 of Cody/Rex, Part 6 of Mer-Tales - Tales of the Sea
Summary:
What if Rex was to turn into a Merman as well?
Then he could spend his time with Cody whenever.
Part two of “I caught you in my net”
Part of Cody/Rex // Mer-Tales series
Codex Week 2023 has come to an end; thank you to all who participated, liked, reblogged, and commented. 🧡💙
This year, we've had 16 creators, 23 works of art and 31 fanfics 🎉 A huge thank you to all of you from the codexweek mod team!
We'll still reblog new works and the AO3 collection will remain open through the month of March. If you haven't had time to complete your creation on time—don't worry! There's still an entire month left, and we'll add your creation to the masterlists. 💙🧡
You can find the full masterlist with all works under the break!
Day 1: New Paint
ART
[/] New Paint (Tumblr) by @ct-51-4305
[/] New Paint (Tumblr) by @rexsterss
[/] New Paint (Tumblr) by @vanisketches
FIC
[G] Painted Heart (AO3) by @gun-roswell
[G] it's so easy in this blue (AO3) by @panther-os
[T] hidden picture (AO3) by @spiritofthenortheners
[T] i don't know what else to do (AO3) by @haltiamieli
[M] Depth Over Distance (AO3) by @dreamingangelwolf
[E] Kill the Machine(AO3) by @dead-cowboy
[E] custom fit (AO3) by @wrennette
[E] sine die (AO3) by @the-bees-patella
Day 2: First Impressions | First Meetings | First Kisses
ART
[/] First Impressions | First Meetings | First Kisses (Tumblr) by @vanisketches
[/] First Impressions | First Meetings (Tumblr) by @rexsterss
FIC
[G] Back in the Day (AO3) by @gun-roswell
[G] the fire's found a home in me (AO3) by @panther-os
[T] firsts (AO3) by @wrennette
[M] A Gentleman and An Officer (AO3) by @trudemaethien
[M] kiss and tell (AO3) by @spiritofthenortheners
[M] Kiss It Off Me (AO3) by @elthadriel
[E] Kill the Machine (AO3) by @dead-cowboy
Day 3: Love Languages
ART
[/] Love Languages (Tumblr) by @rexsterss
[/] Love Languages (Tumblr) by @vanisketches
FIC
[G] Will you stay another day? (AO3) by @gun-roswell
[G] begin your sun salutations (AO3) by @panther-os
[T] Happiness Is An Extremely Uneventful Subject (AO3) by @elthadriel
[T] small touches (AO3) by @wrennette
[E] bona vacantia (AO3) by @the-bees-patella
[E] Kill the Machine (AO3) by @dead-cowboy
[E] my heart in your hands & your hands on my chest (AO3) by @inconocible
[E] up to a point (AO3) by @spiritofthenortheners
Day 4: Kneeling Voluntarily
ART
[/] Kneeling Voluntarily (Tumblr) by @vanisketches
[/] Kneeling Voluntarily (Tumblr) by @rexsterss
[M] Kneeling Voluntarily (AO3) by Neon_Black
FIC
[T] we let our battles choose us (AO3) by @panther-os
[T] the mess post Kadavo (AO3) by @spiritofthenortheners
[T] Everybody's Got A Price (AO3) by @elthadriel
[M] Depth Over Distance (AO3) by @dreamingangelwolf
[E] Kill the Machine (AO3) by @dead-cowboy
[E] my heart in your hands & your hands on my chest (AO3) by @inconocible
[E] reassurances (AO3) by @wrennette
Day 5: Cadet Days, Kamino and Training
ART
[/] Cadet Days, Kamino and Training (Tumblr) by @rexsterss
[/] Cadet Days, Kamino and Training (Tumblr) by @vanisketches
FIC
[G] Back in the Day (AO3) by @gun-roswell
[G] doin' this for the thrill of it, killin' it (AO3) by @panther-os
[M] A Gentleman and An Officer (AO3) by @trudemaethien
[M] I'll walk over the sea for you (AO3) by @spiritofthenortheners
[E] Kill the Machine (AO3) by @dead-cowboy
[E] my heart in your hands & your hands on my chest (AO3) by @inconocible
Day 6: Following Orders | Malicious Compliance
ART
[/] Following Orders | Malicious Compliance (Tumblr) by @vanisketches
FIC
[G] Will you stay another day? (AO3) by @gun-roswell
[T] this is how we get notorious (AO3) by @panther-os
[T] by fortune or fate (AO3) by @wrennette
[T] damaged goods (AO3) by @spiritofthenortheners
[E] Kill the Machine (AO3) by @dead-cowboy
Day 7: Messages and Recordings
ART
[/] Messages and Recordings (Tumblr) by @vanisketches
FIC
[G] Will you stay another day? (AO3) by @gun-roswell
[G] ours are the moments i play in the dark (AO3) by @panther-os
[G] Lover come back to me? (Part two of Will you stay another day?) (AO3) by @gun-roswell
[T] someone else's words (AO3) by @spiritofthenortheners
[E] Kill the Machine (AO3) by @dead-cowboy
[E] I Don't Have A Script For This (AO3) by @elthadriel
[E] my heart in your hands & your hands on my chest (AO3) by @inconocible
Alt 1: From Mass Effect Andromeda
ART
[/] Mass Effect Andromeda (Instagram) by @wolviecat
FIC
[T] to be a knife without a handle (AO3) by @haltiamieli
Alt 2: Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen
ART
[/] Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency (Instagram) by @wolviecat
FIC
[T] As I Am To You (AO3) by @elthadriel
Alt 3: 'Bed Tangle' from Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s
ART
[/] Bed Tangle (Instagram) by @wolviecat
FIC
[E] Can't See The Forest For The Trees (AO3) by @elthadriel
Alt 4: White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
ART
[/] White is for Witching (Tumblr) by @rexsterss
[/] White is for Witching (Instagram) by @wolviecat
FIC
/
Alt 5: Source Unknown
ART
[/] clones on shore leave on Niamos (Instagram) by @wolviecat
FIC
/
Alt 6: 'Faint Light' by Brockett Josh
ART
[/] Faint Light (Instagram) by @wolviecat
[/]The Memory of Rising Tides (Tumblr) by @arrothededushka
FIC
[T] The Memory of Rising Tides (AO3) by @elthadriel
Cody comes to consciousness slowly, and peacefully. He almost doesn’t notice the difference, with how smooth the transition from sleep to awake is.
He blinks his eyes open and lets out a content sigh. The curtains are drawn mostly shut, but a small sliver of light cascades across the bed. He lazily tilts his head to the side and hums softly when he sees the time.
They never get to sleep this late. The mere fact that they are sends another wave of content peacefulness through Cody.
He turns over and fights the urge to pull his partner into his arms, lest he wake him. Rex is so adorable when he sleeps; his lips part just enough that his exhales make the softest noise. His face is always so relaxed, so unlike when he’s awake and worried about this or that.
Cody feels his own face split into a dopey grin; the kind that would get Fox or Wolffe laughing at him, making fun of him. The kind that, when Rex catches it directed at him, makes him blush such a pretty shade of pink and duck his head.
Cody’s so in love it hurts. Rex is just so perfect, in every single way. How brave he is, how smart he is, how selfless he is. How honorable, how reliable and trustworthy he is. How loyal, how kind, how loving.
The way he adores his shinies, putting as much time and effort into training them as he can spare without compromising his other duties. How, even when he isn’t actively involved with the shinies, they always know how much they can look up to and trust him.
Rex makes a soft noise and scrunches his nose in his sleep. Cody breathes out a silent laugh, and wonders what’s happening in Rex’s dream. Cody himself doesn’t dream very often, and when he does, it’s usually memories.
He hopes Rex is having good dreams, at least. Maybe he’s dreaming about the time they snuck out of base on that speeder and drove as fast as they could around that planet Cody can’t remember the name of. It was a gorgeous planet; there was so much green everywhere, and flowers of every color littered about. The path was twisty and full of bumps, and Rex had had his arms wrapped so tightly around Cody’s waist he had trouble breathing deep enough to whoop as he had been. It had taken several twists and turns to convince him Cody wasn’t going to crash; but when he finally let himself relax and have fun, Rex was laughing and yelling right there with him.
Or maybe he’s dreaming about the time on Kamino when they were still cadets, and Cody snuck him out on one of the platforms in the middle of the night. Rex had been so nervous at first, always looking over his shoulder and waiting for them to get caught. But Cody knew better; he wouldn’t have risked bringing Rex out past curfew if he wasn’t 100% sure of their route. But once they were outside, and he saw the ocean-that was it. The look of pure awe on his face, the way his smile slowly crept up on his lips like he couldn’t control it. It was one of the few times Tipoca City wasn’t in a storm, and the calm waves were shimmering in the moonlight. Cody had started with the intention of watching the waves as well, maybe see one of the creatures moving under the surface. But he couldn’t take his eyes off of Rex’s face the whole time, too enraptured by his best friend’s joy.
Rex’s lips twitch, breaking into an almost smile. He snuggles into the pillow, getting just that much closer to Cody. Cody lifts one arm and gently rests it on Rex’s chest, smoothing his fingers over Rex’s chest.
It must be a good dream, if Rex is smiling. Maybe something to do with his ARCs, Echo and Fives. He and Cody were both so proud of them when they came out of ARC training, even convincing Colt to take a holo for them. Rex had been physically incapable of dropping his smile that day, his pride radiating off of him. He had honestly been more full of pride that day than when he graduated ARC training himself.
Sometimes Cody feels like he can’t possibly fall in love any more than he already has, when it comes to Rex. It feels like it should be physically impossible for Cody to love Rex more than he already does. Every single cell in his body, every atom that makes up Cody, was made to love Rex. Every breath he breathes is for Rex, every time his heart beats, every move he makes, every second of every day is devoted to loving Rex.
But then Rex will do something like ask Colt for a holo on the domino twins’ graduation day, and Cody is smitten all over again. Every time he looks at Cody, every time he smiles at Cody, every time he breathes, it’s like Cody’s heart simply grows just to be able to love Rex even more.
Rex laughs softly, his lips twitching into another smile, and he shifts closer to Cody. Cody feels yet another wave of love and adoration overwhelm him. His fingers flex on Rex’s chest, and he finally gives into the need to wrap his arm around his lover.
Rex lets out a sleepy sigh, his nose nuzzling under Cody’s jaw. For a second, Cody is worried he woke his lover up, but Rex simply settles again and his breathing evens back out.
Cody closes his eyes, resting his chin on Rex’s short hair and taking a deep breath. Leave is so rare for the GAR; having a leave scheduled at the same time as the 501st is nothing short of a miracle. Or Skywalker wanting to see his not-so-secret wife. Either one.
Maybe that’s what Rex is dreaming about. His crazy general, and the shenanigans they get up to that give Cody’s general (and, okay, Cody too) a heart attack. While Skywalker’s plans are borderline suicidal, and often far more dangerous than necessary, they are thrilling and exciting. He knows Rex enjoys going on missions with his general, loves the adrenaline high he gets every time without fail.
Maybe he’s dreaming about the padawan, Commander Tano. Cody knows how fond of her Rex is, how much he adores her. Heck, half the 501st adopted her as their honorary little sister. It’s not difficult to convince her to help them annoy Skywalker in one way or another. It’s also not difficult to feel protective over her, with how willingly she jumps head first into danger. Kenobi calls it payback for his own padawanship, and all the heart attacks Skywalker gave Kenobi over the years.
Rex sighs softly, his lips pressing softly into Cody’s throat. “Time ‘s it?”
Cody hums softly, pulling Rex into a deeper embrace. “It’s still early,” he promises. “And we have nowhere to be.”
Rex makes a noise halfway between annoyed and placated. “You been ‘wake long?” He asks instead of arguing, pressing another kiss to Cody’s throat.
Cody shivers softly, kissing Rex’s hair. “Just a bit. I didn’t wanna wake you up.”
Rex hums and leans back, finally blinking his eyes open. His cheeks heat to a soft pink, and he smiles lovingly. “Hi.”
Cody chuckles deeply, leaning down and connecting their lips in a chaste kiss. He deepens it slightly when Rex makes a happy noise, nothing rushed or heated, but deep and full of love. He pulls back after what could have been minutes or hours, and watches Rex blink his eyes open again. “Hi.”
Rex smirks, kissing Cody again once before resting his head back against the pillow. “I haven’t slept that good in a long time,” he mumbles.
Cody gets up on one elbow, resting his head on his wrist and smiling down at Rex. “Yeah? What were you dreaming about? You looked happy.”
Rex blushes again, smiling up at Cody. “You were watching me sleep?”
Cody nods, unashamed. “Just a little.”
“Creeper,” he accuses lightly, rubbing his fingers up and down Cody’s free arm.
Cody laughs, running his own hand down Rex’s side until it rests on his hip. “What were you dreaming about?” He asks again.
Rex hums softly, curling his fingers around Cody’s bicep. “The same thing I always dream about.”
Cody raises a brow, squeezing Rex’s hip. “…And? What do you usually dream of?”
Rex flushes just a bit, and his shy smile returns. “I dream of you. All I do is dream of you.” Rex moves his hand up Cody’s shohulder until he can cup the back of his neck, and pulls him down for another kiss.
Cody sighs happily into the kiss, leaning over Rex and moving his hand back up Rex’s side. If there’s anything in this galaxy better than sleepy kisses shared with the love of his life, his soulmate, his bet friend; Cody has yet to find it.
Cody pulls away and huffs out breathless laughter, making Rex smile and chuckle back. “What?” Rex asks, squeezing the back of his neck.
“I just love you,” Cody says, kissing Rex’s nose. “So much.”
Rex blushes again, pecking Cody’s lips. “Sap,” he accuses, in between more soft kisses. “But I love you too.”
Cody chuckles and lays down again, pulling Rex into his arms and kissing the top of his head. They have no where to be, after all. They can spend all day in bed if they want.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/CT-7567 | Rex
Characters: CC-2224 | Cody, CT-7567 | Rex
Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Intimacy, Introspection
Summary:
“Hey.”
Cody hears him close the door without waiting for response and he wants to say something, just to be a bastard on principle but-
He glances up just in time to see Rex’s expression and can’t quite catch his breath enough to do it.
-
My gift for @gobayern16 for @starwarssecretsanta! I hope you enjoy 💖