@julijuli77
Your request for the prompt: “You kissed me through the helmet. That doesn’t count.”
Pairing: Codywan Rating: G Content warning: None
Set in my Unexpected-verse, after the war, but fairly early in their relationship
Also available on A03
The view from the rooftop was spectacular, the sun setting in streaks of color, skylanes glittering as the city transitioned into night. The table was tucked into a corner, quiet, the lamps giving everything a warm glow. Cody still wasn’t entirely used to dining out like this or the idea of sitting and savoring a meal out in public with the man he loved.
But Obi-Wan looked good across the table, in a collared shirt, the first few buttons open almost casually, sipping a dry red with a sort of elegance like he belonged here.
They were on dessert, some complicated confection Cody had never experienced or thought possible when the conversation drifted into familiar territory.
“You know,” Obi-Wan said, tone far too casual, “for someone as sharp as you, it took you entirely too long to notice I was flirting.”
Cody raised an eyebrow over the rim of his glass. “In my defense, you flirted with everyone .”
Obi-Wan looked scandalized. “I did not.”
“Ventress?” Cody countered.
“That was tactical,” Obi-Wan replied.
“Maybe I tried not to see it because we were at war . You were my general,” Cody reminded him, setting his glass down. “And flirting with you seemed like the sort of thing that ended careers.”
Obi-Wan sobered and nodded. “And yet you let me kiss you.”
Cody raised a brow. “I let you what now?”
Obi-Wan smiled. “The mission on Tedros. Remember? You were injured, just a graze, but you were angry I jumped into the crossfire. I was… a little shaken. You were sitting there being treated and when the medic looked away, I leaned in and kissed your cheek.”
Cody blinked, then scoffed. “You kissed me through the helmet. That doesn’t count.”
“Perhaps not.”
“It was confusing is what it was ,” Cody shot back, but his mouth twitched into something close to a smile. “I spent the next month trying to figure out if it meant something or if I was imagining things….”
Obi-Wan sipped his wine. “It meant something.”
Cody looked at him. “You know, you could’ve said something, something not in riddles.”
Obi-Wan sighed, glancing out at the lights. “It was all so…complicated, I suppose. It didn’t feel right to push.”
There was a long pause.
“I was in love with you,” Cody said quietly. “Probably before I understood what it was. Took me until Kamino to really admit it to myself.”
Obi-Wan tilted his head. “That late?”
“I…realized then…that you meant it, that you had no reason to still have anything to do with me. You weren’t my General anymore…” He blew out a breath. “I kept expecting it to fade, you know? That maybe it was just proximity. Wartime dependency. That once the fighting stopped, so would… whatever it was I felt for you.”
Obi-Wan didn’t interrupt. Just watched him with that patient, unshakable calm that used to drive him mad in briefings.
Cody’s voice dropped. “But it didn’t. You were gone, and I still wanted you there. I still looked for you in every room.” Cody stopped, almost embarrassed as he ran his hand through his hair.
Obi-Wan set his glass aside.
“I thought I’d missed my chance,” Cody said. “That maybe you’d already moved on. And then there you were, just walking into the barracks on Coruscant like it was nothing. Like no time had passed.”
“I almost didn’t,” Obi-Wan admitted. “I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me. You always did such a good job keeping everything locked away.”
Cody snorted. “Yeah, well. I’m not sure I’m any better at it now.”
“I disagree,” Obi-Wan said gently.
Cody looked up.
“You’ve changed,” Obi-Wan went on. “Not all at once. But you’ve let yourself feel more. Say more. You’ve let yourself be seen , Cody.”
Cody swallowed, jaw working. “By you, maybe.”
"Maybe." Obi-Wan agreed with a smile.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Obi-Wan reached out, his fingers wrapping gently around Cody’s hand where it rested near his wine glass. He turned it palm-up, thumb brushing across the old scars, the calluses.
Then he leaned forward and kissed Cody’s hand.
“We got here,” he said quietly. “Finally.”
Cody looked at him, the softness in Obi-Wan’s eyes, the quiet certainty, the peace, hard fought and won.
“Yeah,” Cody said, voice low, rough with emotion. “We did.”