Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Cody hummed to himself as he finished fixing his hair and shrugged the nice amber button-up on over his shoulders, nimble fingers doing up the buttons with a minimum of attention.

He and Ben were going out for dinner at some high-end restaurant for Ben’s birthday. It was apparently high-end enough that he would be worried about the price, but Ben had informed him that the dinner was on Dooku, as a birthday present.

Cody had promptly flailed that he had missed Ben’s birthday.

Well, flailed internally.

But Ben could read him well enough that he knew what he was worried about, and quickly reassured him that his birthday was in early summer and that he simply hadn’t had a reason to use the gift yet.

Or a partner to use it with.

The last statement had been accompanied by such a fond smile pointed in his direction that it made Cody’s ears flush.

He was still getting used to the fact that he had a boyfriend, much less that it was one like Ben.

Lovely, thoughtful Ben.

With his laugh and his winks and his smiles.

And his eyebrows.

Cody considered and then promptly discarded the thought that the level of attraction he had for Ben’s eyebrows was a bit odd. He dared anyone who had interacted with Ben and been attracted to him on some level to not be attracted to those eyebrows as well.

Or maybe that was just Cody’s attraction to silent competence.

Ben could give amazing lectures with just an eyebrow raise.

Whatever.

Cody folded the collar of his shirt over, once again attempting to convince himself that it was not necessary to wear a tie.

Ben had said that the restaurant, while nice enough to be considered high-end by Dooku, did not hold to a tie-and-suit-jacket dress code, so long as their patrons were dressed well and appropriately.

Cody had not yet had the opportunity to see Ben all dressed up, so while he was certainly looking forwards to that, he was also aware that Ben had the skill of appearing to fit in effortlessly no matter what he was wearing, so he was rather nervous about his own appearance.

Also, it was a date with Ben. Sue him for wanting Ben to like the way he looked.

Cody heard the doorbell ring and headed in that direction with one last nervous tug to the hem of his shirt.

Unfortunately, someone beat him to the front door.

He heard it open and indistinct voices, before the distinctive sound of the door being forcefully shut.

He swore, internally, and picked up his pace.

Arriving at the front door, he found Rex leaning against it, closed.

Cody raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “What, exactly, do you think you’re doing?”

His youngest brother gave him that trademark mischievous grin. “Nothing, nothing.”

Cody narrowed his gaze. “I know Ben’s on the other side of that door, you brat.”

Rex’s face turned perfectly innocent. “Ben? Who’s Ben?”

Cody lunged.

Rex twisted with a yelp, somehow managing to duck enough that Cody couldn’t grab him on the first attempt.

He wasn’t fast enough to evade the second attempt.

Cody, far too used to having to physically wrangle his younger siblings and cousins, pinned Rex against his hip in a headlock with one hand and grabbed both his wrists with the other.

Rex protested by flailing wildly.

Or at least attempting to.

Cody knew what he was doing, and also knew the best way to get his younger brother out of the way for long enough to let him leave on his date.

“Buir!”

Jango appeared in the entryway to the living room just as Cody shoved Rex in that direction. “Control your youngest brat!”

His buir obligingly picked Rex up around the waist and tossed him over a shoulder, the young man still flailing wildly. He raised an eyebrow. “Is that Ben outside the door?”

Cody huffed and nodded, brushing his hands down his sides to straighten out his shirt.

Jango smiled. “Enjoy your date. Please bring him by so I can meet him soon.”

Cody nodded, pulling the cuffs of his shirt back into place. “Will do, buir. Thanks for the help.”

The older man smirked and bounced Rex on his shoulder, jarring an indignant squawk from his youngest child. “Have a good evening, ad’ika.”

“Love you too, buir.”

Cody turned back to the still closed front door as Jango and Rex disappeared into the living room, the sound of Rex’s protests disappearing with them.

The still closed front door.

Which meant that Ben had just been standing out there all this time.

After whatever it was that Rex had said to him.

Cody resisted the impulse to curse and opened the door.

He flushed slightly with embarrassment and attraction as he saw Ben.

The redhead was standing at the door, backlit against the snowy night by the porch light, both hands shoved in his coat pockets and one eyebrow raised.

“Sorry! Sorry, Ben.” Cody stepped to one side and gestured for Ben to come in.

The other man stepped into the entryway and Cody closed the door behind him before going for his own coat and shoes.

He continued with his rambling apology as he tied his shoes. “Rex decided that he wanted to mess with me today apparently, and I can’t believe that he left you standing outside in the snow instead of just letting you come inside, and I’m very sorry for whatever it was he said to you, and-”

Cody’s words trailed off as Ben lifted his chin with gentle fingers, their eyes meeting.

There was amused fondness sparkling in Ben’s blue eyes.

Cody melted a little bit inside.

“I also have a younger sibling, and well, you’ve met my friends.” Ben raised an eyebrow at him, smiling. “Rex didn’t say anything, except to check that I was here to pick you up for a date, and to say that he would be watching me.”

Cody blew out a breath. That wasn’t too bad at all, but was definitely along the lines of what he’d expected Rex to say.

Well, to be fair, he had been expecting something possibly a bit more graphic.

Not like there was any chance of avoiding that whatsoever, given how many overprotective family members he had.

Lucky him.

Cody was dragged out of his head by Ben’s finger tapping against his jawline.

He hadn’t even noticed that Ben was still holding his chin.

“I have to say, my dear,” Ben paused and swept his eyes down Cody and then back up again.

Cody felt the look like a physical touch and shivered.

Ben leaned in closer. “You look absolutely delightful tonight.” He placed a gentle kiss to the corner of Cody’s cheekbone before releasing him and stepping back slightly.

Cody just stared at the redhead for a moment, completely shell-shocked.

A light flush dusted his boyfriend’s cheeks, and that was enough to jar Cody into motion. He swept his coat over his shoulders, and opened the door once more, gesturing out into the night.

“Shall we?” Grinning, he added “Before we get ambushed again?”

He was rewarded with Ben’s laughter as he brushed past him, and that was more than enough to keep him warm all the way to the car.

Chapter Text

Cody pulled up to the small house, double-checking his phone to make sure he had the correct address. He was picking Ben up for their date tonight.

The tidy little home with snow-covered bushes in the front garden did match the text Ben had sent him earlier that day,

He walked up the stairs to the front door, avoiding the suspiciously shiny patch on the one step. The door opened promptly after just two raps on the wood.

Cody blinked, then blinked again, brain refusing to accept what he was seeing. Bly had answered the door. Why was his brother answering the door to the house where Ben was?

Bly raised one eyebrow at Cody’s prolonged silence, and Cody suddenly regretted teaching his younger siblings that trick.

The tension between them was broken when Ben appeared behind Bly from further inside the house.

“Cody.” The delighted look on his face prompted a flush in warmth in Cody’s chest.

Bly stepped to one side, allowing Ben to move into the doorway to greet Cody.

The redhead placed a fond, though polite, kiss to Cody’s cheek.

Cody presumed the polite greeting was in deference to Cody’s brother, who was only a foot or two away.

Cody, on the other hand, was not nearly willing to be so polite to his younger sibling, and caught Ben’s lips as he went to pull away for a proper kiss.

He always wanted to kiss Ben whenever he was allowed to.

Besides, Bly deserved it for all the times Cody’d had to watch him suck face with Aayla. At the coffee shop no less.

Cody was no little bit smug at the look on Bly’s face when he stepped back as well as the pleased look on Ben’s.

“Come in, Cody, come in!” Ben waved him in through the door. “I just have to grab my coat from the kitchen, but that’s no reason for you to be standing outside in this chill.”

Cody closed the door behind him as Ben disappeared through a doorway and stepped further into the house.

Before he could continue staring down his younger brother, a familiar face appeared in the entryway.

“Cody!”

He smiled. “Hey Aayla.”

The blue-haired woman draped herself over Bly, her several-inches-taller figure meaning she had to lean down a fair ways.

Cody knew that Bly had spent the past year or so working out at the gym specifically so he’d be able to both prop up Aayla and pick her up.

Cody hadn’t teased him for it, nor had he told the rest of the family.

Ben appeared once more, and Cody raised a curious eyebrow in his direction, tipping his head towards the pair standing mostly in the way.

Like he always seemed to be able to, Ben practically read his mind.

The redhead waved a dismissive hand as he shrugged on his coat. “Oh, this is Aayla’s house. I knew I had to come by and drop off some things for Quinlan, and asked you to pick me up so I wouldn’t have to leave my car here.”

Only part of Cody’s confusion abated. “And why, exactly,” he asked slowly, “are you leaving stuff for Quin at Aayla’s house?”

Aayla smacked a kiss to Bly’s temple before popping up to her actual height and tossing her braids behind her shoulder. “Because he lives here most of the time when he’s not on digs! He’s my older brother, after all!”

Cody just stared at her.

Quinlan Vos was Aayla’s older brother.

‘Hurricane Quin’, as Ben had fondly dubbed the man in most of the many stories he’d told Cody about him, lived in this tidy little house with Aayla most of the time.

He wasn’t dealing with this in front of Bly, no he was not.

Cody nodded at Aayla. “Nice to see you, Aayla. See you at your next shift.”

She beamed at him. “See you later, Cody!”

Cody held the door open for his boyfriend as they exited out into the chill winter air. He barely lasted until halfway down the walkway before turning to Ben, who responded as though he’d asked his question out loud.

“Quin is Aayla’s cousin, technically, but his dad adopted her when both her parents died. They were both still pretty young so were raised as siblings, more or less.”

Well that certainly explained the significant facial structure skin tone differences between the pair of them.

Of course, all the Fetts looked pretty similar, so Cody didn’t have the best gauge on how similar siblings normally looked. Or how different they could look.

That small mystery solved, Cody had a revelation and promptly stopped dead in his tracks.

Ben swung around, a concerned look on his face. “Cody? Are you alright?”

Cody looked Ben up and down. The redhead looked okay. He certainly had seemed to be calm.

“Cody?” Ben had a hand on his shoulder now, the concerned look much stronger, and Cody realized he should probably answer the redhead.

“You were in that house for a while.”

Ben nodded, looking rather confused. “Yes, I was. Almost two hours.”

Cody raised an eyebrow. “And Bly didn’t corner you somewhere at any point during that time?”

A broad smile broke across Ben’s face and his arm dropped. “He did actually.”

This time it was Cody who stepped forwards. “And you’re okay? My family can be more than a little bit overwhelming, and are all fairly possessive of each other, and I know that everyone we’ve caught each other dating has been more than slightly freaked out by a talk at least once—”

“Cody.” Ben reached up and cupped his face. Cody stilled at the warmth, leaning slightly into it despite himself.

“Cody, it was fine.” A crooked smile worked its way onto Ben’s face. “I’m pretty tough, remember?”

Cody blew out a breath and sagged forwards, his forehead landing on Ben’s shoulder. A hand began carding through his hair only a moment later.

“I know. But I still worry.”

Ben’s voice rumble through Cody when he spoke. “And I appreciate it. But trust me,” he tipped Cody’s chin up so they would make eye contact, “I can handle your family. And I won’t let them scare me off.”

“Okay,” Cody said, more than a little bit breathless at the reminder of exactly how competent his boyfriend could be.

The redhead chuckled, and leaned down for a quick kiss before heading for the car.

“Now let’s go. Wouldn’t want to be late, after all.”

Late for a date with Ben?

Never.

Chapter Text

Cody wandered after Ben into the dark, snow-speckled night. The streetlights illuminated the softly falling snow and made the whole scene appear like something out of a painting.

Ben seemed to fit right in, the light shining off his hair and the few snowflakes that had landed on the shoulders of his coat, and Cody paused for a moment to take the whole thing in.

The beauty only intensified when Ben turned around to see where he was, and Cody felt himself falling just a little bit further.

He hurried a few steps forward in order to intertwine his arm with Ben’s, and they continued walking back to where he’d parked the car earlier that evening before their date.

It had been a fantastic evening, and Cody felt as though he was still glowing with the warmth of it.

The ringtone of his phone going off did a fantastic job of knocking that feeling down more than a few notches.

His family would never call unless it was urgent, or important.

Cody turned to Ben, almost wanting to apologize for the phone call, and found the redhead smiling. He raised a quizzical eyebrow as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Ben chuckled softly. “It was about time for you to get a phone call during our dates, instead of me.”

If this was a call from the police station, Cody was going to strangle whoever it was they had to pick up.

He pressed accept call.

“Cody speaking.”

“Hey Cody!”

Cody closed his eyes. It was Ponds on the other end of the phone, and it was a Ponds that wasn’t calling from his cellphone.

Which inevitably meant he had gotten into some sort of trouble again.

“Where are you?”

“Corner of 9^th and Skrill.”

“Are you safe?”

A humming noise from the other end of the call.

Cody pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course.

A nudge to his shoulder got him to look over to Ben, who had his phone out as well.

“There’s a 24-hour diner less than a block away,” the redhead whispered.

Cody nodded his thanks and returned his attention to the phone.

“Do you see the diner down the street?”

“Yep.”

“Go there, and don’t leave until I get there, okay?” Cody knew his voice was stern, but it wasn’t the first time he’d had to pick Ponds up from more-than-slightly sketchy locations. Ponds’ friends weren’t always the most law-abiding people, regardless of how nice they were to Ponds. “I’ll be less than 15 minutes.”

“Got it.”

The call ended abruptly, and Cody blew out a deep breath.

When he looked over at his boyfriend, Ben had a lopsided grin on his face. “Well, at least it’s you this time, and not me.”

Cody laughed.

The drive over to the diner was almost exactly as long as Cody had predicted, and he blew out a sigh of relief to see his younger brother walk out the front door as his car pulled up.

Ponds climbed into the car and buckled his seatbelt without comment before seeming to notice that Ben was in the car.

“Did I interrupt a date?”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Yes you did, you hooligan. But despite all the bad choices you made that ended up with you in this part of town at this time of night, calling me was the right one.”

He knew Ponds could take care of himself, knew the kid was technically an adult at 19, but he was still his baby brother and always would be.

Besides, Cody would probably tell all the Fetts off for something like this, except for maybe Fox and Wolffe. And would only leave off if they had actually brought back-up with them instead of doing it alone.

He was the oldest, it was practically his job.

Ponds only nodded in response to the scolding, and Cody could only hope that eventually something would stick in the kid’s head. Preferably before he actually got hurt. Besides, he was taking him home to buir. Jango knew this lecture inside and out.

Ponds bounced on the back seat, leaning his head forwards through the middle to turn and look at Ben.

“You know Ben, I’m glad my brother likes you so much! 'Cause Maul’s been teaching me all sorts of things and I’d hate to have to use them on you.”

Cody’s brain blue-screened.

Did Ponds actually just say that?

To Ben?!?!

Ben who was currently laughing hysterically in the passenger’s seat.

Ben, whom Cody knew was significantly scarier than Maul could ever hope to be, and was also better at masking it under polite manners and deep-rooted kindness.

Wait, why was Ponds hanging out with Maul.

Cody did not approve of this.

Whatsoever.

Not that he could do anything to stop it; he knew that full well. There was far too much chaos in the Fett bloodline to be able to control it to that extent.

But what exactly was Maul teaching his kid brother?!?!

And was he at least teaching it all properly?!?

There were lots of ways that things could go wrong learning the type of things Cody suspected Maul was teaching Ponds, based off some of the stories he’d heard from Ben. Questionable legality aside, he didn’t need his baby brother to break a leg or something trying to prove he could do something! Maybe he should get Ben to vet what exactly Maul was teaching Ponds, just for safety reasons. Ben wouldn’t mind, and would also probably be able to pin down Maul to get it done.

Cody may have to track down Maul himself, just to make sure he understood how much Cody cared about Ponds.

Just because.

Cody blinked back into awareness, realizing that the car had been stalled at the four-way stop for way longer than it should have been, given that there was no one else present.

Ben was still laughing so hard he was starting to wheeze.

And Ponds looked inordinately pleased with himself in the back seat.

Cody sighed, once again, and resumed driving home.

His family was going to be the end of him one day, he just knew it.

Chapter Text

Cody was working his usual shift at the coffee shop with his younger cousin Wooley when Ben showed up. A large smile spread across Cody’s face when he realized who had just walked in the door.

“Ben!”

An answering smile spread across the redhead's face. “Hey Cody.”

Cody moved out from behind the counter where he had been restocking the baked goods to greet Ben.

The kiss on the cheek he received was polite, but Cody flushed with the warmth of it anyways, planting a soft kiss on Ben’s cheek in return.

“Is something up, Ben?” Cody swept his gaze up and down his boyfriend, checking to make sure nothing was wrong. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow.”

If this was another police station situation, Cody was going to enlist Fox to help. And no one would like that result.

To Cody’s surprise, Ben flushed slightly, though he didn’t drop eye contact. “I just wanted to stop by and see you for a few moments. If that’s alright?”

Cody was charmed speechless by both the flush and that Ben had just stopped in to see him in the course of his day.

The warm feeling in his chest swelled further.

His voice was soft with affection as he leaned more into Ben’s space. “Always, cyar’ika. I’ll always want to see you.”

The flush on Ben’s face spread up from his cheekbones to the tips of his ears, and blue eyes glanced away just slightly.

Which was quite frankly unfair. How was Cody supposed to handle Ben looking like that?!?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Wooley spoke up and broke the moment.

“Hey Codes, the danishes need to be checked on.”

Cody smiled at Ben once more before pulling back. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, of course, but I really do need to go check the baking. Wooley always burns the more delicate pastries.”

Ben chuckled. “Of course, my dear.”

“I’ll bring you back a cup of tea?” Cody raised an eyebrow as he backed away towards the kitchen.

The redhead smiled fondly. “Earl grey with two creams and two sugars, if you would.”

“Coming right up!”

Cody hummed to himself as he bustled about the back room, checking on the danishes and pulling the finished pastries out of the oven and setting them aside to cool, sliding in the next tray of butter tarts, and getting Ben’s tea pulled together along with a small plate of some of the treats he had seen the redhead enjoy the most.

When he came back out, Wooley was chatting to Ben from behind the counter as he dried and put away dishes. Ben had taken a seat at one of the little tables right next to the counter, and had his coat and bag slung over the second chair.

It sounded as though the two of them were discussing the soccer season, which was Wooley’s favourite sport. Cody felt a flush of happiness at how well his boyfriend got along with his family.

You know, murderous threats aside.

Moving across the room, he set the tea and treats down at the table and propped himself against the edge of it with his hip.

Ben smiled up at him when he noticed the plate of treats and Cody melted more than a little bit internally.

His smile was just.... Yeah.

The redhead gestured to the pile of stuff on the other chair. “I can move my stuff if you’d like to sit, Cody.”

The brunet shook his head. “I’m good, Ben. Have a few more trays of baking to get finished, so I’d have to be getting up and down regardless.”

His boyfriend simply nodded in response before taking a careful sip of his tea. A small smile spread across his face.

Cody stood there, just enjoying Ben’s company as his boyfriend alternated between tea, treats, chatting with Wooley between customers, and silence.

It was only a few minutes until the timer Cody had set to his phone went off, and he headed back into the kitchen to switch out the trays of tarts in the oven. The next batch was a raspberry tart that they would top off with lemon cream once they cooled; one of Cody’s favourites.

He set the timer on his phone again and returned it to his pocket, heading back to where Ben was sitting, and promptly stopped dead in the doorway.  

Wooley was sitting on the edge of the table Ben was at, and was leaning forwards and whispering fiercely. His cousin finished speaking after a second or two and simply fixed Ben with a look.

Cody knew that look. It was a Fett Look^TM. He used it, Jango used it, Aunt Arla used it, Fox used it. He knew Wolffe could do it, but was honestly surprised that Wooley could pull it off. Most of the younger Fetts couldn't get anywhere close to the Look^TM. 

Of course, it meant that yet another family member was threatening his boyfriend, but he was mostly resigned to that by this point. Ben could handle himself.

And besides, he was four steps into the instigation of a prank war that no one would be able to pin the blame on him for.

It was the little things that kept him going sometimes.

Ben, who had been giving Wooley a considering look throughout the whole monologue, gave him a measured nod.

Cody resumed walking over to the little table, where Wooley was now cheerfully discussing the chances of his favourite soccer team going to finals.

He scrubbed at his younger cousin’s hair as soon as he got within arms’ reach, prompting more than a little squawking and flailing.

“You’re on till, squirt.”

Wooley patted at his curls and scowled at Cody. “There’s no one here!”

Cody simply raised an eyebrow as the bell above the door rang as someone walked in.

Wooley hurried over to the counter, muffled muttering turning to a pleasant greeting as soon as he was in range of the customer.

Ben smiled up at Cody from his seat at the table, and Cody smiled back.

Regardless of what his family got up to, Ben was worth it.

Chapter Text

Ben had come over early this time, before the coffee shop had even opened. Cody had been both surprised and pleased to see him, and had greeted the redhead with a short kiss and a cup of tea.

Now Ben was sitting at a table, flipping a pen through his fingers and occasionally using it to write notes on the pad he had placed on the table in between thoroughly enjoying his tea.

Cody kept glancing at him in between pulling batches of baked goods out of the ovens and kneading dough. He wasn’t in charge of the baking, that was Denal today, but he was often roped into kneading dough for breads and buns. Bly had once said something about them getting some use out of his arms, aside from using him as a pack mule.

Cody had thrown a handful of mostly un-kneaded dough at him.

It had stuck to the back of his head, and Bly had spent ages trying to get it out of his hair.

It had been worth it, even with the amount of time it had taken Cody to get all the retaliatory flour out of his shoes.

Denal just kept rolling his eyes at constant in-and-out Cody was doing, but kept the amount of complaining about it pretty much non-existent.

Cody did appreciate how quiet Denal could be sometimes.

Sometimes.

The looks he kept sending across the kitchen seemed to communicate his points fairly effectively, even without words.

There was also the fact that Denal waited until Cody was elbows-deep into just starting kneading the next batch of bread dough, a step he couldn’t walk away from for at least 10 minutes, not without trailing a significant amount of bread dough and flour behind him and possibly ruining the dough, to speak.

“I’m going to take your Ben a pastry and a fresh cup of tea.”

And just. Walked out of the kitchen door.

Leaving Cody staring fruitlessly after him.

Stuck in the kitchen, an entire closed door away from his boyfriend and the newest member of his too-large, overprotective family to give him a shovel talk.

There had to be a limit on the number of shovel talks they were allowed to expose Ben to, right?

Cody grumbled to himself as he continued kneading the dough, working it maybe slightly harder than usual. It would be fine, it was just bread.

At least it was Denal this time. He wouldn’t be nearly as aggressive as say, Ponds.

But still!

Denal appeared back in the kitchen only minutes later, and immediately returned to the complicated pastry thing he was working on.

Cody kneaded. And didn’t say anything. Denal didn’t like to talk to anyone while working on his complicated pastry things.

And honestly, he trusted Ben. Ben had said he was fine with Cody’s family. So Cody believed him.

He did.

That didn’t mean that, as soon as the dough was done and wrapped and rising, Cody washed his hands and walked back out into the main part of the bakery, still drying his hands in a towel he tucked into his apron pocket.

He pulled out the chair across the table from Ben and just put his head down on the table with a thump.

Ben chuckled. “There, there.” A gentle hand patted his shoulder. “He was very polite. I didn’t even get any death threats.”

Cody sighed. “No, Denal wouldn’t do death threats.”

Ben continued. “He’s so sweet, and even shy. Unlike most of the hooligans I’ve met in your family.”

Cody could hear the smile in the redhead’s voice.

“I just wouldn’t want to disappoint him, is all. I know he’s an adult, but there’s just something about him that makes you want to be a better person just by existing.”

This time the sigh came from the depths of Cody’s soul. He knew. Denal was like that, somehow. Cody wasn’t sure how his cousin managed it.

Never mind the family he was from, though that definitely contributed to it, but Cody knew his cousin better than most.

Denal had recently orchestrated a situation that resulted in a domino-effect prank war that had ended up spanning three weeks and the entire extended family, and managed to not only avoid blame for the situation, but pin it on three separate people so the rest of the family still didn’t know who’d started it.

And yet, somehow, Ben was still correct. Denal made you want to be a better person just by existing.

He wasn’t sure how Denal managed it.

The hand on the back of his neck tugged him upright, and an involuntary smile tugged across Cody’s face as Ben came into view.

“There he is.” Pale blue eyes crinkled slightly as Ben smiled, and Cody felt his stomach swoop in the way that kept happening when he saw Ben smile, but that he still wasn’t accustomed to.

The delicate kiss Ben dropped on his cheek didn’t help either.

Cody somehow managed to not fall back to the table when Ben let go and sat back in his seat, taking up his cup of tea again.

“Something to tide you over,” Ben said, mostly hiding his smirk behind his cup. “Just until you can get a quick break again.”

Cody immediately shut down the possibilities his mind was trying to conjure, knowing he needed to be able to focus, and wouldn’t be able to focus on bread if he was thinking about Ben. He smiled at his boyfriend instead, and rose to his feet.

“I’ll look forwards to it.”

Ben’s delighted laugh followed him back into the kitchen, Cody smiling all the way.

Chapter Text

Cody shut off his car and blew out a breath before looking over at the redhead sitting in his passenger seat.

Ben smiled gently at him. “It’ll be okay, Cody.”

Cody laughed, the sound coming out more than a little bit strangled. “How am I more nervous about you meeting my dad than you are? Isn’t it usually the other way around?”

A warm hand cupped his cheek, and blue eyes met his. Cody melted a little inside at the view of the crinkles around Ben’s eyes.

“I’ve been looking forwards to meeting the infamous Jango. Especially after all the stories I’ve heard.”

Cody smiled helplessly at his boyfriend before that final sentence sunk in. “Wait. Stories?”

Ben patted his cheek and slid out of the car.

Cody did not panic, but potentially flailed more than usual getting out of his side of the car, fumbling with the seatbelt. “Ben? Who else besides me has been telling you stories?!?”

He knew full well some of the stories of what his dad had gotten up to in his younger years. There was, after all, a series of reasons that Jango had ended up with so many kids. And who knew what some of his younger cousins and siblings came up with!

He skidded to a halt beside Ben, who was unfairly beautiful leaning propped up against the side of the car. “What stories, Ben? And from who?”

Unfortunately for Cody’s sanity, the raised eyebrow look that was so terribly effective on his family did not have a single effect on his boyfriend, except to make him quirk the corner of his mouth up in a smile.

Ben did not answer him, simply held out a hand and began walking towards the front door, pulling Cody after him by the grip on his hand, which Cody had taken without thought.

Cody used the moments the walk up to the front door gave him to take a few deep breaths. He knew why he was so nervous: Ben was the first real relationship he’d had, and the first one he could see himself keeping long-term. He wasn’t worried about Ben meeting Jango, per se, but still.

He stepped forwards as they got up to the front door. “No point in knocking, Ben. Jango expects us all to just walk in whenever we arrive, and is usually elbows-deep in something in the kitchen anyways.”

He pushed the door open and led Ben inside, calling out as he did so, “Hey Jango!”

“Just in the kitchen, boys.” His dad’s deep voice rang out from the other room, familiar and comforting as always.

Cody took a deep breath.

Ben’s hand landed warm on his shoulder and squeezed gently. He turned to look at the redhead, who was smiling.

“Remember Cody, I already like you. I already like your family. This won’t change either of those facts. Besides, it can’t be worse than some of the ways you’ve met my family members.”

Cody laughed, and a weight came off his shoulders. It was just Jango and Ben. Just his father and his boyfriend, both men he adored. There wasn’t anything to worry about.

He smiled back at his boyfriend. “Very true.” He tugged on Ben’s hand. “Let’s go see what dad’s making this time.”

The kitchen smelled as good as it ever did when Jango was home as Cody entered, still attached to Ben by the hand.

Jango was in the middle of rolling out cinnamon buns across the wide island, but he nodded in greeting as they entered.

“Jango, this is Ben Kenobi, my boyfriend.” Cody gestured back and forth between them. “Ben, this is my father, Jango Fett.”

Jango inclined his head again, still working on rolling out dough. “Dooku’s Ben?”

Ben laughed as something in Cody gave up. “And Mace’s.”

Jango just hummed in response as Cody looked at his boyfriend with both eyebrows raised. Ben was grinning, and his eyes were mischievous.

“I’ve never met him directly, but have heard about him from both Dooku and Mace a couple times. Mainly from previous, shall we say, business stories.”

Cody covered his face with his hands and sighed. Of course.

Ben chuckled.

By the time Cody got over his miniature internal crisis, Jango had finished rolling out the dough and was spreading the filling mixture across the top of it.

He finished a sweep and looked up, making eye contact with both of them. “I know you’re both good men and so will treat each other with the respect and care you both deserve.”

Cody could feel the flush spreading up his face even as Jango looked back to his baking. “We’ll just, go… out of here.”

He tugged Ben out of the kitchen, the redhead holding in his laughter only until they cleared the doorway.

Cody flopped down on his preferred couch in the living room, pulling Ben with him. He buried his face in the cushions. He knew Jango would like Ben, but he wasn’t expecting him to give what was essentially a shovel talk to his boyfriend!

Ben ran a hand across his shoulders. “He’s very good at the dad thing, isn’t he?”

Cody snorted and rolled over so he could see the redhead. “He managed to raise me and my five siblings and all four of Aunt Arla’s kids, at least mostly successfully. Despite our best efforts, some days.”

Ben chuckled, continuing to run his fingers across Cody’s shoulders gently. “You all do seem to have turned out fairly well, if varying degrees of feral.”

“There was no helping Wolffe.”

The redhead laughed, shaking his head. “Based on what I’ve heard about him from Plo, no, I would say not.” He smiled down at Cody, the smile causing something in Cody to melt a little.

“Don’t worry Cody, you’re still my favourite Fett.”

The blush across Cody’s face and neck was immediate and heated. He buried his face against the cushion and Ben’s thigh to the familiar sound of his boyfriend’s laughter and sighed.