Chapter Text
Responsibility
Fox slammed the empty shot glass onto the table, grimacing for a second as the alcohol burned its way down his throat.
“Another,” he told the bartender, a stout Zabrak with interlocking chains hanging from the horns crowning his head.
Fox watched how the bits of glass, both attached to the chains and woven into the thick black topknot, glittered in the bar’s lights as the Zabrak moved to grab a bottle. Once the small glass was filled up to the brim with softly glowing alcohol, the bartender gave Fox a nod.
“Thanks,” Fox murmured as he picked up the drink. Some of the amber-colored drink spilled onto his fingers but Fox knew that any hesitation now would only make a bigger mess.
Gracefully, he brought the shot glass to his lips and downed the drink in one go.
Before he could ask for another one, someone slid onto the empty bar stool next to Fox.
Someone Fox had not expected to see for weeks.
“Hey,” Cody said, smiling softly as he looked at Fox.
“Where did you come from?” Fox asked as he turned on his chair, surprised but pleasantly so. He didn’t even hesitate as he reached for the hand Cody slid across the sticky bar counter towards him.
“From a glass tube, in the middle of an ocean,” Cody, the cheeky bastard, replied and easily slotted their fingers together when Fox’s hand was close enough.
Fox ignored the quiet snort that came from the bartender in favor of rolling his eyes. “No, you voidbrain, I want to know why I wasn’t informed that you and your hooligans were due on Coruscant,” he informed his lover, trying his best to sound serious but failing to do so as Cody kept smiling at him. “It’s my responsibility to know just who’s on my planet.”
“The General was called in for some emergency meeting,” Cody explained with a half-shrug, “and the reason you weren’t informed was that you were already out of headquarters when I got there. Besides, the 212th aren’t hooligans; that would be Rex’s boys.”
Fox blinked, taking in the information. A small wrinkle appeared between his brows as he took a better look at Cody, doing some quick mental calculations.
The man was still in his armor, which wasn’t unusual, but there were smudges the Marshall Commander usually took care of before going out, especially if he was coming to find Fox. Also, Fox had only been at the bar for maybe an hour and a half, so the only way Cody would be able to be here that fast was –
“Wait. Did you – did you shirk your duties?” Fox asked, shocked. “It takes two hours minimum for all the flimsiwork to be done before a whole kriffing Battalion can be let loose.”
A slightly embarrassed expression covered Cody’s face and he looked down at their joined hands. “It’s called delegating, not shirking,” he corrected. “I just wanted to see you, and like I said, was a bit surprised that I couldn’t find you at the Guard quarters.”
Fox let a wicked grin spread over his face at the confirmation in Cody’s words. “Be still my beating heart; the stickler known as CC-2224 is skipping his responsibility just to find lil’ old me faster,” he teased, nudging Cody’s knee with his own.
Cody huffed but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes when he raised them to meet Fox’s. “And what are you going to do? Rat me out to Seventeen? Or my General?” Cody asked with a wry grin of his own, pulling their joined hands off the counter between them, raising his other hand so that he was using both to cradle Fox’s.
The gentle gesture of affection had Fox’s chest warming, his heart swelling with the love he so rarely let himself feel.
“Maybe,” Fox replied, keeping the banter going. “Or maybe I’ll tell Stone about it; he’s been looking for a reason to put you into a cell for a few hours.”
The way Cody snorted had Fox grinning. “Is he still upset because of that whole shooting range thing? I’ve already told him; those paintballs were not my idea.”
“The shooting range looked like someone had massacred a platoon of Duros’ there,” Fox reminded the other man all too gleefully.
Cody made a face at that, but tellingly didn’t deny it.
Snickering, Fox leaned closer to press their foreheads together. “I missed you,” he murmured, allowing his eyes to close as he basked in the warmth radiating from Cody.
“I missed you too,” Cody replied just as softly, and his thumb started to caress the back of Fox’s hand.
Straightening himself, Fox smiled at Cody. “Let me buy you a drink and then let’s get out of here,” he suggested. “After all, I want to keep you to myself for a bit before Stone finds you,” Fox added with a wink.
Cody groaned loudly at that, making Fox laugh as he waved to the bartender.
Relaxation
“You’re mad.”
“Maybe.”
“Abso-karking-lutely mad.”
“Just one of the many reasons you love me,” Cody mused and accepted the punch on his shoulder with a smirk.
“Your idea of relaxation is freefalling from unmeasurable heights while avoiding getting hit by the traffic with a jetpack as your only means to stop you from splatting into the ground?”
Cody only smirked wider and held out the jetpack to Fox. He even went so far as to wiggle it a little.
The look Fox gave to him was a delightful mix of love and frustration.
“If we die, I’ll make sure to drag you into hell with me,” Fox threatened.
“That’s fair,” Cody agreed with a nod.
He watched Fox’s eyes narrow, gaze bouncing between the jetpack and his face.
“Are you sure we won’t plummet to our deaths?” Fox asked, still suspicious as hell, but the fact that he was even asking the question was a very good sign. “Those are not regulation jetpacks.”
Stepping closer, Cody pressed a kiss to Fox’s cheek. “No, they aren’t, but I asked the techies to check them; now more than half of them have tried recreating them from scratch and have succeeded,” Cody assured his lover, “but if you really don’t want to do it, we don’t have to.”
Fox sighed, shaking his head. “You owe me a massage after this,” he informed, grabbing the jetpack from Cody’s hands.
“Deal,” Cody promised, giving Fox another kiss, on the lips this time. “You will have fun; I just know it.”
He helped Fox attach the jetpack to his armor and then showed him how to link his wrist comm to the system. Jetpack flying had been a part of their training, but Fox had never really needed to use such a device while on Coruscant. Cody made sure to explain, as well as show, how the upgraded equipment worked compared to GAR jetpacks.
“Right, so which tower are we supposed to jump off?” Fox asked after testing the jetpack, hovering above the ground for a few seconds.
Cody let himself grin, teeth and all. “Who said anything about towers? I was thinking of one of those huge underworld portals.”