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~*~
Visiting Cody’s cousins on the far side of Mandalore was a nice change of pace. Watching Cody relax and just be Cody and not the heir to the throne was a fascinating transformation. Obi-Wan stayed up for the first few hours of catching up with Cody’s cousins just watching before excusing himself to head to bed. The trip had been a long one and he was tired, but he didn’t want his beloved to feel he had to cut his evening short too.
“Enjoy the family time, darling,” Obi-Wan said as he pressed a kiss to Cody’s cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Cody turned for a proper kiss.
“Sleep well, cyare,” he replied with a soft smile.
He rolled his eyes at the exaggerated choking and gagging sounds from his cousins and brothers, flipping them a rude gesture that had them cackling.
Obi-Wan just giggled at the playful teasing.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said politely before slipping out of the room.
As the door slipped closed, he heard one of Cody’s cousins, Wolffe he was fairly sure based on the tone, make a comment.
“He is far, far too good for you.”
Judging by the squawk that followed, Cody must not have taken kindly to the remark. Obi-Wan shook his head, laughing fondly as he headed for the room that he and his riduur were sharing for their visit.
Surely if they were willing to tease that way, Cody’s cousins must like him. That was nice.
~*~
Given the late hour he had felt Cody come to bed, Obi-Wan had expected him to be hungover and reluctant to wake. That not being true was a pleasant surprise.
Cody pressed a kiss to Obi-Wan’s shoulder.
“I only had a few drinks,” he explained. “Several of my cousins were not so smart and will be regretting it when they wake.”
Obi-Wan felt only a little bit of sympathy for them. He turned to face Cody.
“Well, I’m glad you made better choices,” he said.
Cody kissed him.
“Last thing I wanted was to ruin our first day here for you,” he said. “Once we’re ready to face the day, there are many things I want to show you here. This is a beautiful city.”
In no real hurry to begin their day, they continued to exchange lazy kisses and soft touches.
“There are beautiful gardens here with exotic animals found nowhere else in Mandalore,” Cody said eventually. “I think that will be the best place to start our day. Eventually.”
He kissed Obi-Wan more deeply and moved to pull Obi-Wan on top of him.
Obi-Wan was already distracted by the promise of the gardens. They sounded absolutely marvelous. Without thinking, Obi-Wan rolled off the bed, hopped up to go get dressed, excited about their places. Suddenly he froze and hesitated as realization dawned.
“Oh,” He whispered, moving back to the bed, and laying back down. “You were trying to start something. I’m sorry. Please, continue.”
Cody leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his husband’s forehead with a fond smile.
“It’s fine, cyare. Let’s get ready, grab some food from the kitchens, and go enjoy the gardens.”
He started to get up.
“But you wanted…”
Obi-Wan started to say, voice suddenly very small.
Cody froze.
“Obi-Wan, cyare, you don’t owe me your body just because I’m in the mood. If you aren’t, it's ok. You don’t have to be,” Cody assured. With a gentle, loving smile he added, “I love you and I want to make you happy. Right now, going to the gardens is going to do that so that’s what I want to do.”
“I get too excited about things sometimes,” Obi-Wan said softly.
He said it as if admitting to a shameful secret and Cody couldn’t let that stand for a single moment. The dark-haired man carefully encouraged his husband into an upright position, then pulled him into a hug.
“I love how passionate you are. Never apologize for it,” Cody said fiercely.
Obi-Wan hugged tighter and rested his head against his husband’s shoulder.
“I don’t ever want you to be unsatisfied with me,” he replied quietly. “I love you so much and being with you makes me happier than I ever dared hoped I’d be. I don’t want to let you down.”
Cody cuddled him impossibly closer. He hadn’t realized Obi-Wan harbored that sort of fear.
“Obi-Wan, that will never happen,” he assured. “My happiness with you isn’t dependent on us having sex. I don’t ever want you to let me so much as touch you if you don’t want it.”
“I said no that time,” Obi-Wan reminded him, trying hard to defend himself.
He had been ill. He had admitted that morning to being tired, but hadn’t admitted until they were in their bedroom that night that he was actually sick. Cody had taken such good care of him. He had been cold, so they took a nice warm, relaxing bath and then his husband cuddled him until he fell asleep. It was exactly what he had needed.
“There’s a difference between ‘too ill for sex’ and ‘just not in the mood.’ I need you to remember that both are ok,” Cody said gently.
Consent was important and he needed to be sure Obi-Wan understood that. Not for the first time, he wondered at the obvious lack of proper education in such things that Obi-Wan had received.
“I promise it’s never been an issue. It still surprises me sometimes, just how much I do want you,” Obi-Wan admitted, blushing furiously.
Cody understood that all too well. He felt the same.
“There’s no shame in desiring your husband,” he said softly. He placed a kiss on Obi-Wan's forehead. “Now, why don’t we get dressed and see what we can get the kitchens to give us for a breakfast picnic in the gardens.”
“That sounds lovely,” Obi-Wan said with a gentle smile. ““Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.”
“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, ner Kar’ta.”
~*~
“Oh, Cody! This is beautiful!” Obi-Wan said with a wide smile, eyes darting around the gardens as if trying to take in everything at once.
Cody laughed at the obvious happiness.
“Glad you like it,” he replied. “And don’t worry, it won’t disappear if we don’t see it all right this moment. There’s a perfect picnic spot right over here, then you can explore to your heart's content. We have no responsibilities today until dinner tonight.”
After a quick breakfast, Obi-Wan asked where the animals were. Cody led the way, smiling at his beautiful riduur’s enthusiasm. And he was not at all surprised when inside five minutes, Obi-Wan had befriended the standoffish nexu in the zoo. It had been hand raised and was tame, but not particularly friendly, even with the other nexus in the exhibit or the keepers responsible for their care.
“How did he do that?” the shocked exhibit keeper asked. “She’ll come over for a checkup if we bribe her with treats or to accept a new toy, but otherwise we get mild looks of what I swear can only be called disdain for daring to bother her.”
Cody chuckled fondly.
“He’s Stars Touched,” he explained. “And one of his strongest gifts is connecting to animals. He befriends them everywhere we go. It would be annoying if it wasn’t so karking adorable.”
The keeper sighed.
“No teaching us the trick then,” he lamented. “None of the staff are Stars Touched.”
The prince shook his head.
“Unfortunately, no.”
As he watched Obi-Wan petting the nexu, Cody idly wondered if it would be possible to bring the nexu home with them. He was sure they could provide it a proper home and if it liked Obi-Wan so much and only tolerated the keepers, he was reasonably certain he could convince his uncle to let them have it.
He and his father had talked about adding a zoo in the capital. Maybe this would be a good start.
“Cody, come say hello!” Obi-Wan beckoned.
With a fond smile, Cody approached his riduur and the nexu. He definitely felt like the creature was judging him.
“I’m glad you’ve made a friend,” he said.
Obi-Wan just beamed and Cody mentally started composing the arguments to present to his uncle at dinner.
~*~
Exhausted after connecting to so many of the animals in the zoo gardens, Obi-Wan happily threw himself down onto the pile of cushions in the private garden off the family wing of the castle.
“Cody, it was even more amazing than you said,” he declared happily as he sank into the cushions.
Smiling, Cody lowered himself to the cushions in a more controlled manner.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he said.
He pressed a kiss to Obi-Wan’s cheek, then held out his arms. Obi-Wan tucked himself into Cody’s side with a happy sigh. His husband was always so nice and warm.
They lapsed into comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying the quiet closeness.
Eventually, Obi-Wan started to talk, thoughts that had been heavy on his mind that morning were no longer willing to be ignored now that the excitement of the day had faded.
“I never expected to love or be loved by my spouse,” he explained quietly, eyes resolutely fixed on Cody’s torso and not his face. “I expected sex would always just be a chore at best and just close your eyes and think of the kingdom at worst, because it would be expected by my spouse and not about sharing intimacy with someone I cared about. Royal marriage contracts and requirements don’t much care about whether you’re in the mood. It’s not like that with us. I love you so much and sex has been wonderful with you. It regularly surprises me just how much I enjoy it. But there are times it’s hard to ignore the voice in the back of my mind that sounds just like my old tutor that tells me that there are expectations within a royal marriage, Prince Obi-Wan, and you have a duty to meet them. I hate it when that happens and I do try to push it away, but sometimes…sometimes it's hard. Especially if I’ve done, or not done, something that I think will disappoint you. I am working on it, darling, but some days it’s still hard.”
Cody pressed a kiss to Obi-Wan’s forehead, then leaned down to press their foreheads together.
“Thank you for explaining that to me, cyare,” he said gently. “I’m sorry to hear that’s what you were raised to expect, and very glad it doesn’t have to be that way with us. I love you. If I don’t say it enough or you’re just having a day where you need to hear me say it, tell me. I’m glad you’re working on dealing with it because you don’t deserve to have those memories tainting our future. If I can help, tell me. If you need to talk to someone to help you work through them, that’s easily arranged. Most of our mind healers specialize in soldiers, but there are several available to all at court. There’s no shame in it, though you don’t have to make a big deal of seeing one either if you prefer keeping it private.”
Obi-Wan felt tears well up for a moment but he pushed them away. Cody was wonderful and understanding and he was so very lucky to have met him and won his heart.
“Thank you for listening,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “And understanding. I don’t think I need to talk to anyone right now, but I promise to keep it in mind if that changes.”
After Cody placed another gentle kiss to Obi-Wan’s forehead, they drifted into silence. They stayed curled together in the garden until the afternoon sun dropped low.
“We should go get ready for dinner,” Cody said. “We’ll never hear the end of it if we’re late.”
Obi-Wan chuckled.
“Your cousins certainly are an interesting group,” he said.
Cody snorted.
“They’re a pain in the shebs is what they are, but they are family and I love them. Even if it only takes a couple hours to remember I’d love to toss several of them in the lake,” he replied.
Obi-Wan laughed. Loving Cody had brought him a life of happiness he had never expected. He wouldn’t change it for anything.
Even if they did get teased for being late to dinner.
~*~
When they left two weeks later, they did so with a nexu in tow.
Jango thought it was hilarious when Cody sent the fire message with his plan.
Cody was willing to endure all the teasing his father could dish out for the sake of the joy on Obi-Wan’s face when he learned the nexu was accompanying them back home.
The nexu was much happier in her new home, by herself and with more options to hide from view when she didn’t want to be seen.
Obi-Wan was thrilled to have her there.
~*~